Kingdom Hearts Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Crossblade
by Mnesia
Summary: Erm... Cancelled unfortunately.
1. The Horizon

**_Chapter 1: The Horizon_**

_To clear up any possible confusion, the settings for each realm are as follows:_

**_Kingdom Hearts: _**_Following Kingdom Hearts II's story and the "Blank Points" video from Birth By Sleep._

**_Pokémon Mystery Dungeon:_**_ In the Explorers series, following the true ending and about most of the things in the post-game. Has relevance to a few special episodes from Explorers of Sky._

**_Disclaimer:_**_ I don't claim possession over characters originating from the franchises of Square Enix, Disney, Game Freak, and The Pokémon Company._**_ They belong to their rightful owners. _**_Few characters are original. _

**_Now would be a good time to mention the SPOILERS WARNING.  
><em>**

* * *

><p>"Entity of Nightmares..." A voice came from the deepest darkness. It was a low, passionate voice which resonated throughout the blind abyss. It was the only sensation this entity experienced. There was nothing to see, and nothing to feel. The entity itself was nothing. "You have been cast away by the light..." The deep voice paused for a few moments, perhaps letting these words be repeated in the unseen entity's mind for that amount of time. "You and I are similar... Our realms have been sewn close together in this endless sky by the Great Will. And you and I share a similar fate: We have been thrown into the darkness" Again, the voice paused. The tone of this voice seemed to mend into a a more hushed state as it continued to echo into the blackness. The entity began feeling a new sensation. It was anger. It was emotion. Vindictiveness. "Entity of Nightmares," The voice repeated, "You have been abandoned. You have nothing left. You are Nobody... But you have left behind something far greater than yourself. In a current of time, you left behind a world of darkness. It recovered, yet it still existed... And that will give you and I the momentum to sprout forth from this endless darkness. Come, entity of Nightmares... New worlds await all of us. Let us reclaim what is ours."<p>

"Kingdom Hearts."

The voice's resonance throughout the abyss came to an end. And with it, something else...

…

In a dissimilar darkness, the sound of waves crashing upon a shore were heard. Further contributing to the dissimilarity of the darkness was the increase in sensations. Not only were these waves heard. They were seen. The waters which they originated from were onyx black, glistening in the rays of a solar light over the dark horizon. As the waves crashed upon a dark shore, it became evident that figures were watching the glow of the light between a spiny, peculiar structure within the water that encircled said light from their view. One wore a cloak of black with his face concealed in a raised hood. The other was a blue-haired girl with what appeared to be combat mage-like attire. Blue eyes watched the black ocean in silence, just as unseen eyes focused upon the radiance.

"Tell me, Aqua..." The hooded man spoke. His voice was deep, more so than the voice spoken in the more complete darkness. At the sound of this, the girl named Aqua turned her head to face the man. An inquisitive look made itself evident on her face. "In this Dark Margin... What do you believe lies across these waters?" The question was vexing enough to invoke a momentary silence. Aqua stared off and sighed through her nose, her response on the tip of her tongue. She felt oddly confident about it.

"What's beyond the waters..." She repeated the man's question in her own words. "I believe there's a world out there. It's so far... but so close." She stretched her legs forward, both palms now flat against the dark sand as she leaned backwards.

"A world, you think?" The hooded man asked, now facing Aqua. His face was still concealed in blackness.

"Mhmm." The girl nodded once, a smile upon her face. It was a smile she felt she had no control over. The thought of this world beyond the darkness brought about a vision of vivid happiness and a hope that perpetually pierced even the greatest despair. Aqua had never felt so sure of something so surreal in her entire life. It was almost a facetious thought, however, and she knew it. "It sounds silly, but I think there's a very upbeat world nearby."

"Hm..." The man pondered over this for a couple of seconds before speaking, his attention now on the crashing waves. "This world... Do you long to see it?" The question left Aqua slightly puzzled. It was not a difficult question to answer. The girl wished to see another world. She wished to see any other place that was not remotely similar to this Dark Margin she had wandered within for an unknown amount of time. Even still, she hesitated to answer, and it was because she felt safe within the darkness. It was not death, yet it seemed to be her ultimate destination. Anywhere else under this vast sky would have undoubtedly greeted her with ordeals. But if this was her ultimate destination, would she not simply return upon being bested by an evil force? She thought not.

"Yes." Again, she nodded. She breathed deeply before closing her eyes and trying her hardest to vividly imagine this beautiful world untouched by the darkness—the horrors—she has witnessed befall those close to her. But the times she has spent with them have been an unparalleled pleasure. It has made her journey and her fall to darkness worth it. The images of friends experiencing the same joys she had the privilege of doing so manifested within her mind; within her emotions. Those friends—not of hers—were living on this world she so wished to see: This world beyond a dark sea... Aqua opened her eyes. "Do you think Sora has been to this world?" Her gaze upon the waters did not waver.

"Sora..." The cloaked figure began. "The boy has seen many worlds, including this one. But I doubt he has pondered over the possibility of a world neighboring the shores of this void, let alone been to said world. If he hasn't... hm... perhaps he will be seeing it quite soon."

"I hope he does." Aqua spoke soon after the man...

"Do be careful what you wish for..."

…

The skies shifted from a hazy dark purple to a twilight scarlet, however the setting's physical shift was not as dramatic as the atmosphere. It remained a calm beach—an island—off the shore of a large town. This island consisted of a small beach with a large array of trees behind it. On a small risen platform near the shack, which appeared to be built into a large tree, three figures stood. They watched their fiery star as it painted the clouds all passionate colors of the rainbow, shining down upon the radiant waters. One of the figures sat upon the bend in the Paopu tree. He wore a black sleeveless jacket, and his hair was brown and spiked in all directions, while his two friends simply stood by one another. One wore a yellow muscle shirt and possessed long silver hair. He dwarfed the girl next to him, who had red hair, and wore pink summer attire: a short pink dress. The boy who sat one the star-shaped fruit's tree was carrying a likewise star-shaped object. It was the color of grapefruit and had facial features drawn on it at the uppermost star tip. Additionally, he was also holding a bottle and a note.

"Sora." One of the voices started. It was the girl's voice. She turned to her friend, being closer to him than the other, taller boy. "Before you see your friends again, you should rest."

"Yeah." The boy called Sora agreed, staring into the scarlet sunset. "I know... I just already can't wait to see them again."

"Seems like you're always missing friends, huh?" The silver-haired boy asked, his arms now crossed.

"Heheh, it's what happens when you go to so many worlds and meet so many new people." Sora explained, placing the palm of his empty hand to his heart. "I miss them all... But I can't ever forget them. I never forget about you guys either. That's part of the reason I made it this far... Riku... Kairi." as the boy mentioned each of their names, he turned to face both of them. They returned the warm expression with smiles of their own.

"It's why we're all here together." Kairi stated, her focus shifting back to the sunset. Riku and Sora did this in unison soon after her... This moment continued until the evening darkness was sure to come within minutes.

"C'mon guys," Riku began. "Let's get back to the mainland before it gets too dark." At this suggestion, Sora dropped from the Paopu tree and turned to his two friends, smirking.

"Hey, I thought you liked the dark." He mocked, joining Riku and Kairi as they started for the wooden bridge.

"Right, and I know you guys don't." Riku chuckled after he spoke, looking down at the sands beneath the bridge. Rather than heading through the shack, he dropped down from the bridge with a brief grunt. "So, if I were one of you, I'd hurry it up!" He looked back slightly as he spoke before running off to the sailboat the three of them have constructed. Sora and Kairi glanced at each other momentarily, Kairi giggling at Riku's comment.

"Oh, Riku..." The girl shook her head. "Let's get the boat ready." She stated before carefully dropping down to the sand herself. Sora smiled, watching her walk up to Riku. The two were laughing about something that he wasn't quite able to make out. He hesitated before joining them, staring at his star-shaped item that Kairi had made for him. It was called a Wayfinder; a special charm that was viewed upon by Sora as many things, such as a good luck charm and more. Ultimately, he felt it helped keep he and his two close friends together. But, as he mentioned, he had many other close friends out there. They resided upon very different words, yet they all shared the same sky. If it were not for the catastrophes that befell his own home world, Sora would never have been able to meet them. He would never have been able to grow close to them in combat with the Heartless, which had always been his number one enemy, despite his encounters with the Nobodies. Sora had only just recovered from an adventure very recently, and it was believed he would soon be departing for another, as the note from a fellow Keyblade wielder had suggested. This wielder of the Keyblade was known by many as King Mickey... Sora had let his thoughts consume him once more. He faced forward and hopped off of the bridge, running to join his friends in their brief departure back to the mainland located close on the darkening horizon.

As the three set sail upon the quiet seas, a new face appeared upon the shores of the location dubbed Destiny Island in an all too familiar way. An swirling oval of blue and black vapor sprung from the ground. From the central point of this corridor of darkness emitted a figure dressed in a black cloaked similar to the man's from the Dark Margin. The heavy dark vapor dripped from this coat and dissipated as it touched the sand... The cryptic figure watched as late dusk became night, and as Sora, Riku, and Kairi sailed to the mainland on the gentle breeze... His face was concealed by the hood. There was an otherworldly aura about him that might not have been so intimidating if he lacked the cloak. The figure crossed his arms at his lower chest.

"Hm... Maybe I'm being too reckless going out onto these worlds... After all, I don't know how the Keyblade will react with..." He paused, staring at one of his gloved palms. His voice was not too deep. It sounded as though he was a boy in his late teens; sightly older than Sora and his friends. The fact that he wore the black coat alone would have definitely raised their suspicions. I would have raised anyone's. Yet, he remained unseen. This world—this realm—was completely new to him and his weapon so out of place. Abiding by these rules was no simply task. His purpose was unknown, although it would soon be known to residents of the worlds with hearts... And, at the moment, it was even unknown to his own realm's worlds: the worlds with souls. Even he had little knowledge as to why he had been conjured for such a journey. He was not complaining, although he had been forced to leave his own friends and family for a new adventure so far from home.

...Time was in turmoil...


	2. Twisted Destati

**_Chapter 2: Twisted Destati_**

**_Note: _**_This is a pretty surreal chapter. It's tricky to understand at the moment. If you can, you have my praise~! Delving further into the story will bring about a better understanding of Chapter 2._

**_Disclaimer:_**_ I don't claim possession over characters originating from the franchises of Square Enix, Disney, Game Freak, and The Pokémon Company, Chun Soft, or Nintendo._**_ They belong to their rightful owners. _**_Few characters are original._

_**There's still a spoilers warning!**  
><em>

* * *

><p>Thunder crashed, but the lightning seemed to follow...<p>

The town on the horizon blinked out of existence with the late lightning. Time was in turmoil.

The wind and waves became violent as the many clouds rolled into sight. It was a surge of chaos that could not have been predicted... It was a spark of mayhem that arrived with an unassuming anomaly under this sky... It was the world's reaction to something not should not have ever existed upon this plane.

All was somnolent in his mind. He felt like his hands were frozen solid, his arms and legs locked in place. He was suspended in the surreal nothingness that was so abrupt to come to him. It had reached him almost instantly after he had left Destiny Island. A dark presence filled his very soul. This sensation would have been very familiar to Sora if it had not been as though his soul was in peril. Despite all the frantic, yet serene, scenery and sensations, Sora felt his heart confront his soul. He knew the feeling. He was diving: diving into the heart.

This Dive to the Heart had been so sudden. There had been absolutely no warning of the encroaching dive. The last thing the boy had heard was a distressed call for his name. He gathered it was Kairi. He lacked the memory of what had even happened to him on the boat. Perhaps he had fallen into the sea, although he had not felt the shock of the cold water surround him. He was fully capable of breathing, though it still felt as if he was sinking ever deeper into darkness... He felt himself regain control of his body as it seemed to invert itself into an upright position. His feet touched down on a radiant, stained glass surface. The enormous pillar he stood upon, which appeared to rise from an infinite black oblivion. The framed, elaborate image he was standing upon was elegant, patterned with dark and light blue spheres on the outer rim. White and sea green designs mingled in the second layer before spiraling into the center as light and dark blue circles once again. Over these gaudy designs were two original Kingdom Keys: the simplest of Sora's Keyblades. These Keyblades crossed over one another in an X shape. Mysteriously, there appeared to be a very small and eerie blacked out cross object at the point of the Keyblades' intersection. An ethereal choir of spiritual voices sang their song.

Sora knew where he was. He did not question the ominous, yet beautiful world he had entered. With a dazed expression, he simply scanned around at his surroundings in order to digest the fullness that was another Dive to his Heart. And much like his visits prior, he heard a whispering voice which instructed him to move forward to the center of the pillar. The seemingly bewildered boy obliged and stood upon the shaded cross obliviously. Again, the voice came. Sora raised his head to the black sky.

"Sora... You have faced the darkness within your heart unfazed... You have faced the darkness within the hearts of many..." The whispers came to a slow halt as the angelic choir ceded to nothingness. "You need not confront unrest and affliction of the heart to this moment. Now comes the time you must look to a new sky..." Seconds following the reverberating whispers, the blackened cross beneath Sora's feet illuminated brightly, practically shifting into the opposite of what it had been moments ago. Its shine crept upon the features of the stained glass pillar until engulfing them in its blinding light. So soon came the complete enlightening of the glass tower. "It is time you let your soul soar further." The voice concluded. The illumination that concealed the glass flashed brightly, causing Sora to have shielded his face with his arms along with shutting his eyes tightly. Even still, he felt the soreness of his pupils shrinking quickly and the radiant heat emitted from this empyrean flare. It cleared within seconds, yet seemed to last for minutes. Within its mystifying wake was a massive field of lush green grass and open skies, rolling hills in the distance. Occasionally, a patch of flowers of one type and color appeared. Each patch was no bigger than the circular pillar Sora stood upon. Indeed, he now stood upon a circular patch of flowers. They were roses of pure white. The vast field was not as easily taken in by the boy as was the Dive to the Heart. It was almost the opposite in every way.

It was his Soar to the Soul.

The gentle breeze was much like that of the one which would have guided Sora and his friends back to the mainland if it had not been interrupted by such a spontaneous storm. Amidst the quiet rustling of the wind between the grass came a low humming sound. Sora turned his head in both directions before facing the other way in attempt to locate the source of this noise. As he faced the other direction, the noise passed by his face. It was a visible blackish, purplish gust that, quite literally, left shadows in its path. The grass beneath this wind shifted to a pitch black color. The dark gust painted this path of blackness for Sora, halting in wait for him at the next circular patch of flowers. Without necessarily giving this thought, the curious boy dashed forward on the straight path of black grass left behind. As he reached the next patch, the taunting gust continued on, painting the next path for him. Sora now tread upon black daisies, which had originally been red before the presence of the black wind. He ran to the third circular patch of black tulips. Now, the gust sank into the ground before fleeing. It spoke a terrifying whisper to Sora...

"Remember..." This was all Sora heard before he came face to face with three very old foes. Each of them were pureblood Heartless shadows: small, almost bug-like creatures with sleek black bodies and gleaming yellow orbs for eyes. Now with a glare, Sora bent his knees and hunched his back slightly; his preferred battle stance. His body face the side slightly while his grip tightened around a sparkling presence. This presence manifested into the very same Kingdom Key seen earlier. And indeed, Sora possessed the adequate recollection of abilities he had manipulated in previous battles, although a suspicious weakness overtook him. He felt significantly less powerful here than he would have with Goofy and Donald. For now, he was on his own. This, however, did not stop him from slashing forth with his Keyblade, assaulting one of the Heartless while the others seemed to warp into the ground, their circular shadows quite visible. They were invulnerable at the moment. The same cannot be said for the shadow that suffered a vertical slash and two horizontal slices, ultimately resulting in its dissipation as a being. At this time, the other two Heartless sprang from the dark flowers, each behind Sora. Sensing this, Sora spun with one arm outstretched. This arm just so happened to be wielding the Keyblade at the time, and one of the poor shadows happened to have leaped at the boy just in time to be swiped away—not defeated—to the ridge of the black floral circle. Sora caught a quick glimpse of the bashed Heartless instantaneously sinking into ground once again while the other took its chance to charge the boy. The swipe was easily evaded with fine tuned reflexes. Sora hopped back about a foot before thrusting his weapon forward with one arm. His foe vanished in a dark mist. Just behind this mist was another shadow already in the process of charging him. He assumed it to be the last. Sora crouched one knee forward and raised his blade horizontally to parry the inevitable attack. It succeeded. While the shadow was still stunned, Sora swung his front leg around, along with his entire body, in a loop and slashed at the weakened Heartless with formidable strength. Taking a quick breath, he glanced upward at the dark gust. He had not noticed its sudden return. As soon as it appeared, it had fled onward to the next patch of flowers, leaving another path of black grass... Sora pursued, Keyblade in hand.

"Never forget..." Again, the terrible whisper came over the darkened daisies. And again, the determined boy was met face to faces with three old foes, albeit more recent. These were known as Dusks; the most common type of Nobody the Sora has encountered. Each of them possessed small, sinuous and humanoid-like bodies with a flat head bearing the insignia of the Nobodies. Their arms ended in small lance-shaped blades, and they appeared to be rather flexible in their swaying motions. Instantly, these odd creatures began heading for Sora. Just as well, he knew exactly how to manage these seemingly untamed menaces. He leaped to one side while keeping a careful eye on the nearest Dusk. Their heads turned ninety degrees at a speed which would possibly break a person's neck. Sora's movements were swift and skilled. Within a couple seconds, he was behind all three of the Nobodies. They appeared to panic at Sora's reversal, and too soon were they surprised with a spiraling slash from behind. This twirl-styled blow impacted all three of the Dusks. They were blown forward, the first to be hit also the first to be destroyed. Two Dusks remained and recovered almost before Sora could, and he was the attacker. The central Dusk rushed at the boy, thrusting both its arms at him. Again, Sora's reflexes proved to be superior. He hopped over the arms, which were quickly retracted upon missing. The Dusk watched as Sora descended with a vertical strike, his Keyblade spitting the Dusk into a monochrome mist that faded into nothingness. Content with this blow, he had almost forgotten about the last Dusk. It had the upper hand, or blade, as it swiped at Sora without the unfortunate outcome of missing. Sora grunted at the slight pain. He had felt where the slice had been, which was on his left arm, but there was no proof of injury. After all, none of this was truly physical, despite the realistic labor and fatigue that was promising to settle in. He struck the Nobody in its blank face with his elbow, the thing almost evading the move with an odd flex backward. As it stumbled slightly, Sora saw the opportunity to deliver the finishing blow, which was a follow-up of his elbow strike. He followed through with a fully extended Keyblade slash, ending the Dusk's existence here. And again, the black wind rose only to flee, coloring the grass black once more. Likewise, Sora gave chase without hesitating. He arrived on a patch of black anemones.

"...Be prepared..." The sinister whisper made clear. It was a change of pace. Now the boy was being told to prepare rather than remember. It was a legitimate warning. This time, the foes were quite foreign to Sora. They rose from the flowery ground in small pillars of blackness, lines of green evident in the rise. From these portals came three winged creatures no larger than the Heartless he had faced. Their bodies were pitch black with glowing streaks of emerald green running down their serrated arms and legs. They flied on tiny demon-like wings, possessed two small horns above green glowing eyes, and had three claws in place of fingers on each hand-like appendage. "Behold this Nightmare... This presence that should not be... yet is." Sora was left with this message from the dark gale. The three mysterious "imps" approached mercilessly intent on attacking Sora. He kept his Keyblade up, ready to parry any attack at any moment. The imps simply hovered near one another upon coming within two feet of Sora's blade. After a few seconds of the mere flapping of wings as any action whatsoever, Sora let down his weapon. He was thoroughly confused... The voice came once again. "Bringer of light... You have touched many hearts, yet this Nightmare your blade cannot touch by any means. The Keyblade is not of their phase."

Not of their phase... These words bothered the boy to no end. He had no idea what it meant, but had a hunch it did not bode well for him. He took it as a challenge, obviously. Sora lashed out with his Keyblade, slicing upward through the idling imp. The blade appeared to cut through the creature as though it was nothing. That was almost too literal. It practically _was_ nothing. It had dealt no damage to the tiny demon. The three of them simply hovered together mockingly to Sora. He backed away, mouth slightly agape. If this pattern repeated itself, there was absolutely no way out.

"The Darkness of a sky so near... You have faced your imminent demons, for which your body, your soul, and your heart are for naught. Your light cannot reach them. They, however, can and will reach you..." The final whisper came to the boy like a menacing thunder.

And the sudden synchronized strike of the new Darkness was, oddly, the lightning that _followed_ this thunder. All became dull. The world around Sora shifted into blackness once more...

Sooner than he would have guessed, Sora found himself standing in the center of another massive pillar sprouting from darkness. This stained glass setting was different from the first. It had not the crossing Keyblades nor the blue coloration. It was green, white, and black rather. The outermost design of this pillar was a large six-pronged greenish gear. In the center hole of this gear shape was a black cross very similar to the kind Sora encountered upon the first pillar, albeit quite larger. He was already standing upon it...

"The foe you faced will be seen again... When the time comes, you must _remember_ not to fight and _prepare_ to flee, for only this Darkness may creep unto that Darkness. Your light can only shine in its fullest under one sky..." The voice paused. Sora found himself staring at the palms of his hands. His Keyblade was absent from his grip, but this was not his prime concern. The unpleasant sensation of his bones throbbing came to him without alert. Was it the battling? It couldn't have been. He clamped his hands around his head, the pulsing pain evident in his skull, in his mind. "Time is in turmoil, and the Crossblade is calling to you to partake in the tumult afar, yet near." As the serene whispers came, Sora fell slowly to his knees in an unseen agony. Constantly tormented by the feeling of breaking bones and a melting mind, he shut his eyes tightly and prayed for an end to the torture that, instinctively, he blamed upon the Crossblade...

The last thought to race through his scrambled mind was the image of a figure concealed in the black cloak. In one hand, this figure wielded a backwards weapon of some sort. All he saw was the quick sight of a cross shape before completely blacking out...

It was of no avail departing from the beach, for he was still upon it.

And his heart belonged to a new host that was, strangely, still his own body.


	3. Explorers

**_Chapter 3_**_**: Explorers**_

**_Note: _**_This chapter is one of those "to be continued" deals. I plan to use the PMD: Explorers characters as seen in the series and games. There're some new characters, who are mainly of the 5th generation. _**_  
><em>**

**_Disclaimer:_**_ I don't claim possession over characters originating from the franchises of Square Enix, Disney, Game Freak, and The Pokémon Company, Chun Soft, or Nintendo._**_ They belong to their rightful owners. _**_Few characters are original._

* * *

><p>Destati...<p>

Again came the sound of waves crashing upon a shore. This was all he heard. He knew he was conscious, but he refused to open his eyes. He simply wanted to believe that he had been washed up on the shore of... the place he was going... He remembered nearly nothing. He did not know much. But he knew one thing: it was obvious his very physique must have been in disarray, for his muscles ached viciously. Worse was the feeling in his bones. It felt as though they were only _half_ existent, perhaps less. It was nearly indescribable, but he felt as though his body was more horizontal than vertical. Clearly he had been laying down, but the fact that his arms and legs were facing the same direction at the joints was beyond odd. In addition to all of this, he felt quite warm and cozy, though he realized he was laying on the sand.

And then he was wet.

A rather large wave had reached his position on the sand. The cold wake-up call forced the boy to open his eyes. He coughed and spit out a bit of seawater, and with that, pain overtook him once again. It was gradually loosening its grip on him, though still surely there, whatever it was. Why was he in pain? Why was he on a beach? For a few moments, a slight glimmer of memory had only just evaded him earlier as to where he was going before being here on this beach. Now, it had become null and void. Now, he remembered absolutely nothing, and it was a _scary_ thing to experience... So he remained still in hope that he would at least recall something soon... It was perhaps nighttime before he was here, was it not?

...This beach looked fairly petite... In some awkward way, it didn't feel natural...

…

On a rather shaggy looking pile of hay was a small creature of blue and black. Its body was canine-like; a black masque design over its eyes and white oval shapes on its blue arms. Its legs were black, while the rest of its body was blue, save a small bit of fur on its upper chest. Obviously, this creature called a Pokémon—Riolu to be specific—was asleep. Another nearby was not...

Today felt... different...

Dismissing this, the lively snake Pokémon smiled relaxingly and overlooked the sea within the maw of a large shark-shaped cliff, supposedly carved into the cliff side by an earlier civilization. According to his partner, it resembled a certain Pokémon he knew about, though not personally. It was a place he called his home: Sharpedo Bluff. He himself was a sleek, green Pokémon with a cream white color to the front of his slender body. Two three-pronged leaves were attached to his snake-like tail. At the tip of this tail was a larger leaf of the same sort. His hands were quite tiny; almost like the leaves on his tail. His pearly white legs and heeled feet weren't exactly equally tiny, but small nonetheless. A goldenrod colored V-shape appeared as a collar, and a lone spike curved out of the back of his head, swaying from the casual path of features that lead to mysterious maroon eyes and an elegant, pointed nose. He was a Servine, but this was not his name...

The Servine turned to face his sleeping partner with a smirk. It was amusing to see Riolu in slumber like this. Usually, this partner of his was the one to fall asleep the latest and awaken the earliest. It vexed him, but Riolu managed it. He was not about to let his partner hear the end of this. That is, when he woke up. Truth be told, the Servine was slightly worried for Riolu. It was clearly unlike him to be sleeping this long. The days prior, Riolu had occasionally awakened in the middle of the night for reasons unknown, yet he was always able to wake up before the other. The two of them concluded it had heavily to do with all the training in the guild. Ah, the days when he was just a Snivy at Wigglytuff's Guild: hard work with the other apprentices, memorable journeys, saving the world... He was truly fond of his time on this world as a Pokémon. This was his home, and he could not imagine leaving it.

Or, quite honestly, saving it once more. The good news was that he never had to again . He could live here in peace with Riolu and go on countless explorations! ...Again, whenever his partner decided to wake up.

For now, the Servine was at ease hearing little else but the crashing of the waves against the rock beneath. It has always been a pleasant sound to rest his eyes to... Come to think of it, the tides sounded slightly off this day. After nearly a year of living at Sharpedo Bluff, the grass-type's senses were highly attuned to the environment. Peculiarity was present. The tides were off. Was the moon perhaps full...? Curiosity proved to be an itch that the Servine wished to tend to as soon as possible. Approaching the stone steps carved into the ground which led up to the surface through a tiny cave, he glanced back at his partner, who was laying flat on his back with a paw over his chest. He detested the though of leaving Riolu behind, but this could have been important if not observed! Then again, he gathered the townsfolk have noticed by now. Despite that, he started toward the surface.

He and his partner's humble abode neighbored the famous yet equally humble Treasure Town. A simple path organized in a straight line through a variety of tribal tents and basic structures was its configuration. Some of these tents were larger than others. Just as well, some were more elaborate than others in terms of decorations. Most of the smaller tents remote to the path were homes, while those edging onto the path were simple business run by no more than three capable Pokémon. While it was a leisurely town, there was always work to be done, and everyone performed their part to keep their home in top-notch.

Even still, the subtle sense of unease remained in the Pokémon's heart...

He passed through the town as if this inner adversity was nothing more than concern for his partner—a bit of it actually was—sleeping in later than usual. He hoped to keep it invisible from the friendly townsfolk, who remained as upbeat as usual. This Servine was greeted with smiles and waves; the occasional "Good morning, Jovany!". He gave all who gestured to him a warm smile in return, hoping he was the only one who knew about this unease and was prepared to investigate it. If it was dangerous, he detested the thought of harm being brought to any civilian on the town. Plus, it was essentially his job, save exploration. Save others. It was a very large focus of Team Crimsongleam.

It had been too long since the day Jovany met Riolu on the beach nearby. And perhaps it was instinct, or that disorder in the tides, but Jovany felt the desire to investigate that same beach prior to anything else. He continued west until coming to an intersection in the path. The crossroads led to the outer lands, a small Pokémon-shaped tent atop one of the higher cliffs in the region, or downhill south to a very familiar site. The beach: the true birthplace of Team Crimsongleam.

To the Servine's unwanted surprise, the beach he and his partner and the many inhabitants of Treasure Town knew was no more. The level of the water rose drastically. In wide-eyed disbelief, Jovany watched as the waves crashed upon trees, which had grown on the very same path _to_ the beach. That path had practically become the shore. _So the water level has risen_, thought the inquisitive Jovany. _But why...? Who is this Pokémon here?_ The young Pokémon had noticed another before him the moment he arrived here, but was more concerned with the risen waters. He shouldn't have been. It didn't suit his personality and position as an explorer, especially since this other small Pokémon looked to be unconscious. It wasn't everyday Jovany rescued someone _outside_ a mystery dungeon.

"Hey, what happened? Are you alright?" The Servine called out, approaching fairly slowly. He knew the other had blacked out, but his call was at least an attempt to awaken this Pokémon. And it worked... almost.

He watched as the other began to struggle to make any movement. Jovany guessed it was at least trying to turn over. It appeared to be sheer coincidence, as another call went unheard. A third call, however, came from elsewhere. The gruff sounding, tribal voice belonged to an apprentice of the guild Jovany used to work vigorously at. This apprentice was quite new, not only to the guild, but to the land.

"Ah, is Jovany! You rise early today..." The blue Pokémon approached the other as he spoke. He resembled an otter who stood on two legs at all times. At his darker blue hips were to decently large seashells. At the back of his head were two soft spikes that rose, taking the place of hair. Unlike most Pokémon of his species—a Dewott—he possessed complex black markings in his fur which started as simple crescent shapes on his cheeks, then evolved into more circular and spiral shapes down his arms. As soon as his eyes caught sight of the water, he froze, more than slightly surprised. "Is true. Ocean rise to greater level."

"Futachi," Jovany started, now facing the new guild apprentice. He frowned for a moment at the other Pokémon's statement. He was up early? It felt as though he was up at his usual time... "You've come to check the tide also? I'm not sure what the issue is, but it looks like it brought this poor fellow along with it." The Servine turned to his side, allowing the Dewott named Futachi to see the unconscious Pokémon.

"Hm... Is an Eevee, no? Is out cold. Futachi will bring Eevee back to guild" Futachi suggested while Jovany appeared to be lost in though as he stared at the more unfortunate Pokémon... He was bothered by this perhaps more than the risen tides... "Jovany?" Futachi managed to clear the Servine's head, for a moment anyway. Jovany shook his head and all troubling thoughts out. It was not like him to mull over such things, and when he did, it generally spelled some sort of havoc to come.

"Sorry, I guess I'm still waking up." Jovany fibbed. There was definitely something about this Eevee that perplexed him, aside from his being a normal-type Pokémon and ending up in the ocean in the first place. With a raised brow, Futachi crouched to this small fox-like Pokémon's level and lifted it in his arms. "The little thing is kind of cute... I hope it'll be okay." He smiled softly, Futachi's response heard as a quiet grunt.

"Come, we report to Chatot." The Dewott spoke as he began his return to the guild. Jovany hesitated for but a moment. He was beyond intrigued. Maybe for today, exploration would not be his and his partner's focus. He wished to awaken Riolu not just because this case would excite him. He was quickly discovering that it was a pet peeve to do anything adventurous while the other half of Team Crimsongleam was still asleep... Jovany quickly made after Futachi.

...In their absence came a shadow: a Heartless of the kind faced in Sora's Dive. Eerie glowing eyes watched the two Pokémon make their way back to Treasure Town. Upon sinking into the ground as a liquid shadow, it gave chase.


	4. Subconscious Rush

**_Chapter_**_** 4: Subconscious Rush  
><strong>_

**_Note: _**_I suppose this is another "to be continued" thingamajigger! And wow, this one came kind soon after the third chapter, huh? I'm eager to write this, because it's kind of freaking fun. This "note" is strikingly less formal than the previous... _

**_Note 2:_**_ Personalities of certain Pokémon characters that I don't own may not be matched entirely. I'm hard on myself about that because I've played the darn game (Explorers) like fifty times, so I should know how to talk like... Loudred. Sort of. I'm pretty sure literally doing that would wake everyone up. BUT THAT'S ITS PURPOSE IN THE GAME! =D [/Pun]_**_  
><em>**

**_Disclaimer:_**_ I don't claim possession over characters originating from the franchises of Square Enix, Disney, Game Freak, and The Pokémon Company, Chun Soft, or Nintendo._**_ They belong to their rightful owners. _**_Few characters are original._

* * *

><p>"Xemnas..."<p>

The ethereal call came from within... and he was awakened.

He sat up as suddenly as one could, his head aching as if he slept wrong. Despite the pain, he glanced in both directions as quickly as he could. He lifted himself to his feet, paws pushing against the ground in order to rise. To anyone, it would have seemed as if the frantic boy was tormented by something along the lines of an important even gone missed. For, to everyone else, this mystical call was unheard. Yet it came again, this time far more distorted.

"Xemnas..."

He backed away, his vision darkening, the world spiraling into mayhem before his very confused eyes. The name was spoken again in the same demonic tone. Before a few seconds, all the young boy heard was a cacophony of menacing voices all speaking the same name, which remained a puzzle in itself. He refused to stop backing away, his arms spread as he witnessed the world he knew fizzle and fade away like a dying star... The ground beneath his feet vaporized into sub-cosmic ether. He saw the celestial mist rise, feeling the life from the muscles slowly wither out of existence. It was then that he came to the realization that he was the one evaporating... The ground was gone... He was falling, and he could see his own essence escape him with his body in tow. Entropy...

"The gears will fail to turn... The lights will die, stars will frown... Your heart will burn... On your way down." This voice came to his nothingness—he wasn't sure how he could hear it without ears—as he descended into spiritual subspace. He caught glimpse of a spherical radiance in the fuzzy darkness. It was climbing further away from him... It was his heart... Bright linings on clouds could be seen far above his ascending heart. How could this immersion possess a silver lining...? As they parted, he regretted considering this unasked question. An immaculate, heart shaped moon watched over his bodiless presence, its blue glow slowly illuminating the darkness... But just as his heart became a scarlet speck, at which he presumed it touched this moon, all radiant color left the world once again. The moon became a monochrome pane of glass, which then shattered before nonexistent eyes, shards of glass approaching the sinking boy... Before they reached him, they began to transmogrify, gaining light and color once again. Five very particular "shards" fell passed him. Each of them were turqoise colored, and shaped like gears.

And now they were gone...

…

Riolu sat up quickly with a desperate gasp for air, as if emerging from the surface of water. Ironically, it actually felt that way. _Another nightmare_, he thought to himself, crossing his legs and rubbing his eyes with his fists. _Who is Xemnas...?_ He was no stranger to this question, though he was the only one to ever have asked it. He lowered his arms, palms pushing his knees against the ground. Sighing through his nose, he scanned the small Sharpedo Bluff... Someone was missing.

"Jovany? Hey, Jovany!" Riolu called out, hoping to get a response from someone who didn't even need to be green and snake-shaped, or recently evolved. When the only response came as the crashing of waves, which sounded oddly louder than usual, Riolu knew it was time to investigate. Maybe Eager McBeaver—not Bidoof—was already looking up jobs on the bulletin boards, he mused. He wouldn't have doubted that. It was beyond shocking that Jovany had managed to awaken before him.

And Riolu had waken up surprisingly early today...

...

…Prior to Jovany's examination of the beach...

In a more lively setting underground, a briefing was unfolding, or at least about to. The many Pokémon who, as usual, lined up in two columns watched their sleepy guildmaster and his assistant with estranged expressions. A few murmured amongst one another, wondering why a fellow apprentice had not yet returned...

This torchlit, or sunlit due to carved in windows, subterranean complex was known as the famous Wigglytuff's Guild. It had three layers, one of which was simply the entrance. A stable ladder led down to the layer where most jobs took place and were instigated on the bulletin boards. The last layer was where the workers of the guild lived, essentially. A few jobs were conducted here: a structure built by one of the apprentices that appeared to have a cauldron of some sort underneath it, a hole in the dirt that led to an deeper underground sentry post watching a grating on the surface, a dining hall to the far left of the central room, and, of course, Guildmaster Wigglytuff's quarters.

The guildmaster was quite round with a white belly and a tall, pointy ears. The rest of his body was pink, and almost shaped like an egg. His arms were slightly stub-like, while his feet were long and flat. His eyes were rather large, an ocean blue complimenting their size. This one seemed very capable of the trademark "puppy dog eyes". He was the Pokémon who the surface tent resembled and revolved around; a Wigglytuff, clearly. His partner was a Chatot, a colorful bird Pokémon. His deep blue wings concealed yellow and green feathers, which could be seen on his chest. His chest was often out proudly; a common gesture of the confidence of his own knowledge of the land. Above a white flower ish "collar" around his neck was his black, note-shaped head, a slightly annoying sigh emitting from his curved, red beak.

"Oh, honestly! I send him out for the simplest assignment, and what does he do...?" Chatot asked himself, bringing a wing up to his forehead as if stressed. "Should he keep us waiting for a minute longer, he will be getting a stern talking to!"

"Let's not be hasty, Chatot Maybe he's sleepy like the rest of us!" Wigglytuff stated, yawning almost silently thereafter, a paw in front of his mouth. This infected the rest of the apprentices with the urge to yawn, with the exception of Chatot, whose wings were folded at his sides once again.

"Guildmaster," Chatot began, turning to face his kindhearted and childish superior. "Shall we conduct our casual morning briefing without him? I've noticed he hardly recites our three cheers... He's such a suspicious one, that Futachi."

"Um, if I may...?" One of the apprentices spoke aloud. The others around her quickly became silent, facing in her direction. Her voice was serene and did not sound as if it were used when it didn't need to be. That was no surprise, seeing as how its owner was visibly shy. Her diminutive physique most likely suggested this, for she was known as a Minccino. Her type was relatively unknown to these parts. She appeared as a gray chinchilla with a brush-esque tail. Her white-tipped ears were almost as tall as she was. In her hair, which was honestly just two risen strands, was a small exotic and sunset-colored flower. It looked a cross between a rose and a sunflower. Upon each of her cheeks where three dots in a triangular order; a tribal symbol. Indeed, she was of Futachi's land... Her name was Chillarmy.

"Yes, Chillarmy? What is it?" Chatot asked the young girl, his head raised with the absence of a desire to listen to very much from a sleepy _new_ apprentice.

"Um, is Futachi. He, um, has had difficult past with authority." She shifted her focus to the ground, paws now behind her back. "Um, Futachi may be stubborn, but he return soon. Will not leave me. Is, um, close friend." With her head held a tad higher, she smiled as best as she could through all the nervousness of speaking aloud and possessing all of this attention doing so. She hoped to overcome this ever present anxiety in her training alongside Futachi.

"Well, he will soon have to best this problem of his! We cannot stand for rebellious spirits." The guildmaster's assistant concluded, his head high and eyes closed with the sureness in having the final say. And upon having that say, two shapes were seen climbing down the ladder. One descended with one arm while cradling what appeared to be a young Pokémon in the other. Sensing the ground close beneath his feet, he hopped off of the ladder with a brief grunt, his other arm returning to its place under the Eevee's back. He stepped aside for Jovany, who simply climbed down the rest of the way.

"Well well! Look who is fashionably late!" Chatot teased predictably, flapping his wings twice as he did so. "Jovany? My, it is still shocking to see you as a Servine." He acknowledged with a sudden twist in demeanor. "What happened out there?"

"Oh no!" Wigglytuff gasped, both paws over his mouth. "Is that poor Pokémon okay?"

"Futachi found Eevee at shore. Seems water is rising, as predicted. Reasons still unknown to Futachi..." He finished for Pokémon to ponder, including himself. "Found Jovany at beach without partner. Futachi think he waken before Riolu."

"Oh my gosh, that's possible?" An outburst came from a sunflower-shaped Pokémon.

"Hey, hey. Shouldn't we be a little more concerned about the Eevee?" The question originated from a Pokémon who looked like something of a lobster.

"We should!" Wigglytuff agreed. He approached Futachi and held out his arms. "May I see him? I just love the little Eevees of the Mystifying—huh...?" Wigglytuff appeared to be interrupted as Futachi obliged to transfer the small Pokémon to his guildmaster's arms. There was a striking sense of urgency that filled the pink Pokémon with terror... He held the small creature in his arms nonetheless, accompanied by a blank stare... Silence fell like a curtain...

"...Guildmaster...? Guildmaster! Are you with us?" Chatot spoke out, hopping up to Wigglytuff and attempting to peek at the Eevee from behind. "What is the matter, Guildmaster?"

"You look as though you've seen a ghost, Guildmaster Wigglytuff." Jovany spoke aloud, stepping forward so that he stood beside a puzzled Futachi, whose arms were crossed over one another...

..At this moment, Wigglytuff raised his head and faced his apprentices with a look that would have otherwise invoked pessimism within the hearts of these young Pokémon, for they have rarely ever seen Wigglytuff with such an apprehensive expression... When their leader was unsure of something, that was the time to panic. Of course, no one really comprehended what could have been going on inside Wigglytuff's head. That was how it always was.

"Everybody... I think something very bad is about to happen to our world."

Jovany's eyes were closed tightly. He winced at this comment. He knew very will that Wigglytuff had the hunch for these things. He opened his eyes with a silent sigh. Deep down inside, he felt it as well. Something cataclysmic was about to happen, but he couldn't quite express how he had this knowledge. Perhaps it came from this Eevee? That didn't make any sense! How was the Eevee tethered to the rising of the ocean level? And-... What in the Hidden Land was that...?

Jovany's aware eyes caught sight of a swift black shape move about the ground behind Chatot. What was this and how did it wander over there without anyone noticing? Was it Duskull from the bank? Jovany had never known Duskull to frighten anyone, odd as the Pokémon might have been. He blinked a few times before shaking his head once. It was still there, and quite worse, it was now stationary behind Chatot. It appeared as a shadowy puddle, which was already beyond natural considering it had the ability to move on its own. Yet even more disturbing was the fact that it developed two glowing eyes before taking shape into what Jovany would have believed to be a cross between a bug-type and a ghost-type, or perhaps dark-type. It didn't matter. It looked hostile.

"Ch-Chatot!" One of the apprentices called out before he could. It was a round, blue mouse with a white belly and a zigzag tail tipped with a blue sphere. "Watch out! Behind you!" He shouted, pointing at the pitch black creature who had solidified completely. The guild members stepped back almost in unison, panicking at this interloper's presence. Chatot spun around immediately.

"Waahh!" He yelled in response at the shadow who was a bit larger than he. He spread his wings instinctively to protect the guildmaster now behind him. It was not something he was regularly successful at, seeing as how Wigglytuff was far more in control than he... The commotion was enough to awaken the esoteric Eevee.

As Wigglytuff turned to face the hostile shadow, eyes in his arms met his close presence. The leader was well prepared and ready to act to save his assistant. Before he could, however, the Pokémon in his arms leaped to the ground with shocking impulsiveness. He assessed the situation, ignoring most of the details that were otherwise impertinent to the shadow nearby. This was almost everything. Somehow recognizing the ability to maneuver on all fours, he dashed around Wigglytuff and Chatot, tackling the shadow to the wall near the guildmaster's room. A dextrous leap backwards cleared space between he and the Heartless... Words echoed softly in his mind.

"_Remember..."_ They came to him as a familiar whisper.

He hesitated not! Hurriedly, he raised his head, mouth agape for but a moment! A magical radiance came from a source unknown, quickly shaping into a key only he knew. He shut his mouth tightly on this Kingdom Key, one fore paw in front of the other, ears and tail high! With a blank vengeance, the Heartless sprang forward with the intention to lash out at the prodigious fighter. It was of no avail. The Eevee duplicated the leap, albeit higher and more quickly. Just above the Heartless, he twirled in midair, his Keyblade slicing through the shadow once. He landed in the foe's previous position, gaze shifted has far behind him as he could see. Behind him, a black mist left the guild... He stood high, opening his mouth widely for a moment to let the key drop in front of him. He placed a paw on this Keyblade of his, staring down at it, head tilted.

Every set of astonished eyes were on the Eevee. There were absolutely no words for what they had just been but a few feet from. None of them predicted, let alone fathomed at this moment, the events that came to be. Seconds after bewilderment, a few frightened yet enthralled apprentices exchanged glances, eager to see each other's reactions... While Chatot was frozen with his wings expanded in something of horror combined with stupor, Wigglytuff made his way around the assistant, eager to know as much as he could about the little warrior here.

"Wow... You sure took us all by surprise! You were like... YOOM-TAH!" The guildmaster raised both of his arms with this strange method of expressing excitement or motivation. It was used often... "Could you tell us your name, please?"

...It took a few seconds for the boy to respond, the indication of which was the lifting of his head.

"That's right... I remember now! Wow, _what _happened _this_ time...?" He blinked, an ear twitching a tad as he recalled he was being spoken to. "Oh, sorry," He apologized, lifting a paw off of the Keyblade. It soon disappeared in a sudden radiance. He turned to face all the strange creatures he couldn't even begin to describe. Shrugging this off momentarily, and the realization that he _was_ one of them, he nodded and gave a lively grin.

"I'm Sora!"


	5. Black Storm

**_Chatper 5: Black Storm_**

**_Note: _**_There's getting to be more dialogue, as well as (at the end of this chapter) more mysterious coincidences that aren't as described as the regular storyline.** This is where the story starts to kick off.** My longest chapter yet. Enjoy~.**  
><strong>_

**_Disclaimer:_**_ I don't claim possession over characters originating from the franchises of Square Enix, Disney, Game Freak, and The Pokémon Company, Chun Soft, or Nintendo._**_ They belong to their rightful owners. _**_Few characters are original._

* * *

><p>"Sora, you say?" Chatot spoke a few moments after the Eevee's confident introduction. He had managed to, or attempted to, digest what had just occurred, though he still couldn't understand it. And he gathered the lot of Pokémon around him lacked any inkling whatsoever. If <em>he <em>couldn't grasp it, how could they? "Well, Sora! ...It's safe to say you've left us all speechless with your outburst, although I assure you we could have managed the situation quite well on our own." Chatot held a wing out as he spoke, his head raised once again.

"Chatot!" Wigglytuff huffed at his assistant. "Let's thank him for what he did! He looks like he can be a great friend! " The guildmaster repeated the word "friend" a couple times accompanied with childish gestures, such as hopping a little. "Thank you, Sora friend!"

"No problem!" Sora smiled warmly with his head held high. Now... what was going on? He remembered his name, so that was not quite an issue. He remembered what the Keyblade was, and he knew how to wield it in combat, even in this form. He also knew he had dealt with situations such as these in the past... But it was an understatement to have called it a blur to him. He felt ignorant. He lacked any sort of knowledge as to what may have occurred not five minutes ago. He blinked a couple times, still unable to truly gather his bearings on this small area. "How long was I out...? Where... am I...?" He questioned, instantly appearing much more vulnerable.

"Well! I do not know how long you were asleep, but I was informed you were found at the beach and brought here by Futachi." Chatot explained, gesturing to the otter Pokémon with a wing. Wigglytuff stood more to the side to allow Sora a sight of this "tribal warrior" they have stumbled upon very recently.

Futachi, with his arms crossed, merely grunted and nodded at this. True, he remained shocked at the little Pokémon's impulsive power and rise to action, but it was difficult to read Futachi. Some of the guild members doubted he had emotions at all. He possessed an unparalleled ability to shield them behind a veil of solid secrecy. Often, he preferred to work in solitude. Occasionally, he aided his good friend Chillarmy, who was probably the only one who knew he had emotions to begin with. To him, Chilarmy was the only value his life held anymore. When he fled to this continent, Chillarmy held close, he remained tormented by the horrible misdeeds of his past. He hoped, with the motivation Chillarmy gave him, to renounce his status as a, put simply, a terrible Pokémon by joining the guild.

"Oof, that sure was scary though. I don't reckon I've seen a Pokémon like that one, yup yup." The voice came from one of the livelier members of the guild, though, understandably, he was a tad shaken at the idea of Chatot being struck down from behind by that phantom of a "Pokémon". The apprentice who spoke was shaped like a beaver, though some differences were evident. His name was Bidoof, in alignment with his species. Bidoof was a tad timid, but he managed to get things done when necessary. It had not begun this way. One of his fellow apprentices responded to his statement.

"I got worried too. I still am. What if there are more of those Pokémon?" The body this voice belonged to was younger. He was the very same round, blue mouse who spoke out earlier. His name was Marill, and he had only just been recruited prior to the arrival of Chillarmy and Futachi. He was no stranger to the town or the guild. He had lived here for the length of his life, yet never came around to joining the guild due to his lack of self confidence. That changed in a heartbeat when he was separated from his younger brother, Azurill. Following the kidnap of his brother by and unknown trio, he cursed himself for lacking the strength to save Azurill. That day had forever changed Marill himself. He was scarred emotionally, though he desperately tried to stay cheerful in high hopes that he would one day be with his little brother again... His mother had passed away because of an illness, his brother had been kidnapped... This was his family now.

"I saw it go underground, I think! What if that's where they are?" A small, quite cylinder-shaped Pokémon panicked. It was brown with a round, pinkish nose. It was very simple a Pokémon. It's name was Diglett, and it appeared to have a relative in the guild.

"Do not worry, son. I will not let these foul Pokémon harm you." The _triplet_ of "Digletts" was the source of this voice, although the one in front spoke... His name was Dugtrio.

"Settle down, everyone!" Chatot fluttered his wings in front of the murmuring apprentices. He managed, as usual, to calm them down. "Guildmaster and I will see to it that none of these Pokémon disturb us any longer! We cannot afford to dillydally now, can we? This interruption will not go unnoticed, but for now... recite with me!" He raised his wings. Instantly, the guild members came alive with a spur of joy!

"A ONE, A TWO... A ONE-TWO-THREE! ONE! DON'T SHIRK WORK! TWO! RUN AWAY AND PAY! THREE! SMILES GO FOR MILES!" Each member of the guild shouted, attempting to match one another's spirit, or perhaps exceed it. Jovany found himself reciting the chant for old time's sake He truly missed the guild, but it seemed he would be dealing with far different matters this day. On another note, he wasn't surprised to see Futachi remain silent throughout the chant.

"Now, let's all work hard today! At this last call from Chatot, the guild members gave a rousing cheer before dispersing to their usual duties. Futachi glanced at Jovany for but a moment before grunting softly and exiting the scene by making use of the ladder. Jovany heard a familiar voice from above. It was Riolu. He must have accidentally bumped into Futachi on the way down.

"Oh, pardon me, Futachi." He spoke courteously. Jovany was relieved to hear him awake. He climbed into view and turned his head before touching down tot he soft ground. "Oh, there you are! You woke up before me? Wow! What'd I miss?" He planted his feet on the ground, his paws on his hips, and smiled almost playfully.

"Good morning, Riolu~." Jovany spoke to him in something of a singsong voice before approaching his partner and standing at his side, chuckling as he looked down at the Riolu. "You missed out on some excitement, wouldn't you say so, Chatot? Guildmaster?" He faced each of them as he spoke their titles. There was an elegant beauty to his look, his voice, and his passion. That often led others to question him impersonally about certain things...

"Most certainly, thanks to this fine young Eevee." Chatot replied, focusing his attention on the one called Sora, or so he recalled. "Sora, was it?" He asked the boy, simply to be sure. Upon receiving a nod from the relatively quiet fighter, he deemed it time to introduce himself. "My name is Chatot. I am the head of knowledge around these parts, as well as the assistant of the much admired Guildmaster Wigglytuff you see before you! " He motioned with a wing to his superior, who waved with a wide grin, mentioning the word "friend" a few times again. "This is the famed Wigglytuff's Guild. The many Pokémon you saw moments ago were apprentices. Each of them work very hard towards becoming top-form explorers!" He explained with enthusiasm. Though, upon watching the boy, it was clear that this information was sailing over his head like a flock of Wingull. "Oh, yes. And these are our former apprentices of Team Crimsongleam. He is Jovany, and he is Riolu." Chatot explained, believing in some way this would lead to the end of a disturbingly blank stare from the Eevee...

Sora was overwhelmed already. He had sprang into action so quickly, and it was surely taking its toll on him. He jumped into the fray without understanding a single aspect about the world around him. Why did he feel so out of place in this world? Furthermore, why did he feel so out of place in this _body_...? He could not even identify what it was that he had slain mere minutes ago. Was it a Pokémon? There were many questions to be asked, but he felt he might have well been better off understanding what these Pokémon were if they were to be his friends and foes.

"Sorry, but... What's a Pokémon?" Sora asked with an ignorant smile plastered to his face. Judging by the reactions of the four nearby, as well as another apprentice going about his duty, it was a question not received often. "Am I a fox?" He asked again, quite soon after his previous question. He glanced back at his fluffy, brighter brown-tipped tail, then lowered his head to examine his fore paws. He felt the weight of tall ears upon his skull and bobbed his head to the left, then to the right.

Yes, he was absolutely sure of it!

He was not a fox prior to all of this. He was a human!

"Sora friend?" Wigglytuff watched the boy with a curious expression, concern evident as well.

"Oh, this will not do. Where to begin...?" Chatot raised a wing to his forehead again in intense yet brief thought...

"Wait!" Riolu called out, leaning forward a little. "What _did_ I miss? This Eevee, Sora, doesn't know what a Pokémon is? Well," He paused for a moment before addressing the newcomer. "Sora! You _are_ a Pokémon. We're all Pokémon also."

"I'm a Pokémon...?" Sora tilted his head in utter curiosity.

"My, this is a serious case of amnesia." Chatot nodded to himself. "Sora, do you remember anything before coming here?"

"I don't remember a lot... I remember there being a voice." He hesitated to finish explaining with the concern that he would be giving false information. He wondered if it even mattered. "And then I remembered the Keyblade, then my name."

"Keyblade?" Jovany wondered aloud. "Was that what you defeated that strange Pokémon with? It was unlike anything I've seen."

"Yeah, that's the one." Sora affirmed, raising a fore paw slightly. The air beneath his paw shimmered and brightened before manifesting into a flash, which then cleared to reveal the same weapon he battled with. He placed his paw over it once again. "This... I don't know where it came from, but I felt like I had to use it against that... shadow... Pokémon?" He faced the bird-resembling Pokémon, worried about the pronunciation of the term. Apparently, he got it right.

"Sora friend!" Wigglytuff started with a childish expression, though it quickly morphed into something a tad more serious, which was quite unlike him. "When Riolu said you were a Pokémon, you acted like you might not have been."

"Oh yeah! I'm supposed to be a +human. I don't know what-"

"A human?" All four of them exclaimed, almost vociferated, simultaneously. Sora stepped off of the Keyblade, startled at this outburst. Before any of them could speak any further, a hasty guild member scrambled down the ladder, calling the names of both Wigglytuff and Chatot. Her name was Sunflora, a veteran apprentice at this point. She was a spirited one.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" She panted as she stood before Chatot and Wigglytuff.

"G-get yourself together, Sunflora! What is the matter?" Chatot responded to the girl, who was clearly shaken by something.

"I-it's Treasure Town! It's being attacked by those shadows!" She answered, almost unable to finish the sentence due to her frantic breathing.

"What?" Chatot squawked in alarm, backing away with his wings aflutter. "I will alert the guild members! Guildmaster, you must stay safe for now!"

"...I'll handle this." Sora spoke with a fierce confidence, a paw over his Keyblade once again.

"Team Crimsongleam will help you!" Riolu stated, honestly unsure about the situation... This was new to the team.

…

Outside, Pokémon were fleeing, seeking refuge in any spot that, quite simply, wasn't near the previous spot they had settled at. It was pandemonium. Screams of terror filled the atmosphere as streaks of black invaded the town like a swarm of dark insects, crawling over tents and mercilessly making chase after innocent townsfolk. A few of the innocents appeared to be capable defending themselves, come the worst. A few experienced exploration teams had joined the action and were already working to evacuate the townsfolk before too long, but that was easier said than _thought_, as there was little time to even do so. A few of the shadows, which none knew were called Heartless, had already fallen to the Pokémon. Just as well, it seemed some townsfolk had been felled by the rapidly increasing numbers of the Heartless. Some of these Heartless where shaped differently. They were far taller, black with blue vein-shapes throughout their body, and had more of a humanoid shape than that of the smaller shadows. Their crooked antennae fall behind them and nearly reach the ground. These "neoshadows" were as menacing as they were powerful.

Sora faced down the path through Treasure Town, standing between Jovany and Riolu. The Keyblade was held tightly in his mouth. He glared and snarled, ready to battle. Jovany and Riol faced each other, each giving the other a confident nod.

"Let's do our best to keep these things at bay! Sora, stay with us!" Riolu called out before dashing into the once peaceful home, now to be called the battlefield. Sora led the dash, immediately swiping away at a few lowly shadows, which were defeated with ease. Jovany carried his own weight of shadows, elegantly spinning and conjuring energetic storms of leaves which, at his command, shredded through the Heartless like a frenzy of knives, often ending in their immediate vaporization into dark gas. Should a Heartless have come to close, which a couple did, he simply slapped it away with his tail and finished it with a second, vertical tail strike. Riolu was fairing nicely against his opponents. He ignored those who sank into the ground, aggressively lurching at any open shadow. His movements were swift, so any attempt at striking him was quickly evaded. A swing of one shadow's arms did not come unseen. Riolu ducked before this swipe and retaliated quickly. He reached up to grab the arm of the Heartless and noticed another approaching him swiftly from the front. With toned reflexes and strength, he lifted the Heartless over his head and struck down upon the oncoming shadow with its fellow, following this move with a rushed shoulder tackle. Having sent the two tumbling away momentarily, he dropped one foot back while keeping one forward and motioned his paws behind him as if he held an orb of some sort. A spherical vortex of blue aura began to build in his paws. At the moment of their recovery, Riolu unleashed this sphere on the two Heartless, slaying them...

Futachi found himself battling alongside Sora. He knew why he was here. He itched every now and then for a decent fight, and this supernatural occurrence would have to provide for him. Unlike most Pokémon, Futachi fought with _heavily_ modified versions of his original moves. With each move he used, it seemed to trigger a light blue pulse that ran up and down his tribal markings. Surrounded by Heartless in less than seconds, he retrieved the two seashells from his sides and, with a flicker of light running up his body, he hurled each shell in unison, his arms raised on level with his chest. The two shells flew around Futachi in a nonstop circle, slicing through the shadows until nothing was left to slice. The speed of the shells reduced enough, along with the distance from Futachi they were flying at, for the water-type to catch them... With a ferocious glare, he jolted ahead, shells in paw, ready to annihilate the "scum", as he would have put it, who stood in his path.

Sora had finished unleashing a rally of skilled combos on a horde of Heartless, though he had yet to face a single neoshadow. He knew that was imminent, but _wished_ to know where the other citizens of the town were. Perhaps they had all been evacuated by now. If so, he would have been elated. This swarm of shadows felt endless as it is. It was then that it had dawned on him that he wandered a bit far into the town. He was told to stay with Riolu and Jovany. With that in mind, he hurried back to the duo, who looked capable of finishing this wave of shadows off. His eyes went wide at a frightful sight only just inches behind the Servine. He wish he could have called out to him, but the darned Keyblade was in his mouth! He feared if he spit it out for but a second, he'd be defenseless.

"Jovany! Watch out!" The Servine heard a voice come from far behind him. It sounded like someone he knew vaguely, like Wynaut from the café. Before the Pokémon could even consider facing the other direction, it was too late. Large, black hands gripped tightly at his sides. The pain was evident. This larger shadow was squeezing with enough force to cause Jovany to raise his head and cry out. And it was a sound that his partner wished he had not heard.

"Wh-wha? Jovany?" Riolu turned, paying no heed to the Heartless he had down at the moment. He saw the greater shadow being crushing his partner in a deadly grasp. He sprinted with that horrible feeling of despair in his heart. What if he didn't make it in time? His partner—his closest friend—was in mortal danger, and Riolu knew this. He also knew he was growing slightly fatigued, but he didn't care! He saw that Jovany's life could have been slipping away right now!

Sora peeked over as he sprinted. He caught a glimpse of Riolu nearby. They were headed for a common enemy with a common purpose. Adrenaline flowed through his small body as he charged with Riolu at his side. Mere feet from Jovany, however, a second neoshadow broke free of a dark puddle from beneath. Its body was spat from the earth, causing it to catch a bit of air. As its feet made impact with a ground, a shock wave of energetic darkness prevented their advance. They were blown back quite a ways by such force. Sora was hurdled against one of the totem poles that stood in the town, each of them resembling certain Pokémon. He groaned briefly as a continuous sharp pain assaulted his backside. The Kingdom Key vanished from his mouth in a radiant flicker. He raised his head, his vision obscured by blurry speckles. The last thing he saw was a sudden dark presence emit from the ground. Excruciation. Blackness.

Riolu had not been slammed against anything, though he rolled backwards quite a ways. Pain riddled his muscles. He stood on one knee, his fist against the ground for balance he watched his close partner begin to fade away, or, more accurately, sink into the ground with this nightmarish creature. Despair amplified. He felt a shove from behind. His weight increased. Another. More weight. He was pushed flat against his chest. More weight. He lifted his head and watched as Jovany's upper body sank ever so slowly. More weight. He began to feel the antennae of the many smaller shadows which were piling on top of him, holding him down. More weight. One of the shadows blocked his view slightly, though he could have sworn he saw a large group of Pokémon he knew quite well make for the path beyond the crossroads. It was the guild. They were fleeing. Leaving him. Riolu saw they had no choice, for they were being driven away by another horde of the larger shadows.

"Jovan-...Jovany...! No, d-don't go!" He screamed out for his partner, throwing an arm forward in one final attempt to make himself useful in any way. "Don't leave me! Please! Jovany!" He cried desperately, tears falling from his cheeks. More weight. He could barely see beyond shadows crowing around his face. He did see his partner's head, which was all that was upon the surface now. He heard one last shriek from Jovany as the Servine's descent with the dark creature reached its conclusion. More weight. Excruciation. Blackness...

…

"So, you're the boy..." Came a deep, calm voice.

The teen knew not where he was. He knew not where the voice emanated from. He knew it was a man speaking, but where? He could not see a thing. What happened to him? Where was he? How did he get here?

"A feeble attempt to use a corridor of darkness to reach this world, hmhmhmhm..." A different voice emanated from an unknown source. It was not as deep, though possessed an equally ominous tone.

"Yes, truly... Boy... Who gave you the coat...?" Came the calm voice...

"The coat...?" The teen responded. His mind raced for a moment, though it shouldn't have. It was a simple question. He was wearing a heavy, black coat that he had been given by another in the same attire. "That's none of your business... Wh-who the hell are you? _Where_ the hell are you?"

"We will be asking the questions here." Came the second voice...

"I assure you that it is very much so my business to know about your origins... wielder of the Crossblade... Who. Gave you. The coat?" The calm voice asked once again, although irritation was present in his voice.

"I'm not telling you a damn thing, you hear?" The teen retorted, about to demand the name of his location. What had the second one said? Something about a corridor of darkness gone wrong? What was wrong? He simply conjured one of the portals at the place people called Radiant Garden and set his sights on a certain destination he was slightly more familiar with. What could have gone wrong? That red-haired figure told him specifically that he was capable of using these corridors to travel through safely as long as he wore the coat. As long as the coat was at least over his shoulders, he could have traveled freely to other worlds without suffering negative or bothersome effects! So what was wrong now? "And how do you know about the Crossblade?" He hadn't actually expected himself to ask this...

"If you will not tell us, then we will not tell you. Pity. You would have made an excellent ally. But you would likely have proven to be trouble. I know little of your true power, boy. I predict it is foolish to underestimate you, but to abuse the coat's power so wildly... Perhaps you're the fool. You've lured yourself into the darkness that we have created.. Might I add... thank you for your help... Now, begone. I will be taking that coat. You do not deserve it..."

He couldn't respond, though he seethed with anger. Whoever this guy was, he certainly had a mouth on him. The teen had dealt with these kinds of characters, but, likewise to him, it would have been foolish to underestimate his foes, no matter how cliché or predictable they seemed. But the fact that this man mentioned the Crossblade, and the other fact that this man mentioned something about the teen helping him weave a world of darkness made no sense in the slightest! …

The teen felt cold. He felt the warmth of the cloak slip away. Light and color returned to his vision, but unfortunately, devastation was the first thing he saw...

...

"Now, where did that brute go? I told him not to rush, yet he did so!" The feminine, British accented voice was heard by two others.

"Ah, this isn't good." A second voice came. It was male, but it was oddly high pitched... "He got away from us again."

"He'll show up." Came the third, and most masculine, voice. "Kid's got brawn for it."

"Well, certainly not the brain! Ugh, what a migraine..."


	6. Uniscar

**_Chapter 6: Uni-scar_**

**_Note: _**This chapter doesn't explain too much of what happened at the end of the previous chapter. There are still a hefty amount of things that need to really build up before the action can start at its fullest. So, if you find this chapter a little boring, I don't blame you! It's a building block, so to speak.**_  
><em>**

**_Disclaimer:_**_ I don't claim possession over characters originating from the franchises of Square Enix, Disney, Game Freak, and The Pokémon Company, Chun Soft, or Nintendo._**_ They belong to their rightful owners. _**_Few characters are original._

* * *

><p>There he lay in the post-midst of mayhem The sky above was shrouded in a vast expanse of dark gray clouds, setting the stage for a menacing atmosphere...<p>

All around him were separate scenes of annihilation. Poor creatures, each of them resembling tiny white hedgehogs with grass-covered backs, were unconscious and strewn about the lush area. This area had literally been torn up by the sheer force of the Heartless' power, which, judging by the scenery, the creatures stood no chance against. Quantity was the victor, and yet there were a number of these Pokémon in the area. The Heartless, alas, exceeded their numbers...

The Pokémon who resided in this small, natural village were known as Shaymin. The village itself had grown increasingly in popularity due to the raising desire to hike the nearby mountain. It was known as Sky Peak, and there existed a garden atop this magical mountain where the Shaymin harvested a particular flower known as the Gracidea. As for the Shaymin, they were an incredibly hospitable bunch; a kind group of villagers to any enthusiastic explorer to visit them and bask in mutual wonder at the beauty of Sky Peak's summit: the site of a legendary, almost celestial view of the world. It would be some time before Sky Peak was to be trekked upon.

He fit nicely into the scene of devastation, for he too was a Shaymin. Of course, this Shaymin appeared to variate from the others drastically. It was not a hedgehog in any way, shape, or form, rather something of a cross between a reindeer and a fox. His long ears resembled the visible flow of wind and clouds. He appeared to have spiky green hair, which complimented his green-tipped paws. He had what looked to be a reddish scarf around his fluffy neck. Unlike most Shaymin in what was called "sky forme", his eyes were a deep dark blue. These eyes of his had revealed themselves at the panicked calls of an oncoming gathering...

"Come quickly! We are approaching the village!" Among the cries of despair, these were the only well articulated words the Shaymin could have heard. He peered over a patch of tall grass, eyes half open in a fatigue that, quite honestly, made little sense to him. What had he done? He lacked any ability whatsoever to remember the events prior... Like a slap in the face, it had hit him. Truly, he remembered nothing! He felt a surge of unease, though perhaps it came from the despairing aura around him. He at least remembered he had a personality, and empathy was a fragment of it. Desperately, he attempted to stand with his eyes closed in strain, but to no avail. Standing felt unfamiliar to him, and quite painful for some reason. It was possible that he shared the fate of these many other Pokémon. For now, this is what he deduced as he stumbled back to his chest, his legs sticking outward. The young Pokémon had been more than pounded into submission... The voices became louder.

…

"Right this way!" A feminine voice called out to the many other she was scrambling away from Treasure Town with. She stood aside, motioning with an arm to guide the extremely few townsfolk, who were all guild members, into the ruined village... She had not beheld the village at the moment, but upon turning her head to do so, the shock in her face was evident. "My goodness, this is..." Her words were cut off by the audible dread in the voices of the three guild members and one guildmaster she had been with. If only she had known where she was guiding her friends, maybe she would have hesitated in being so hasty to allow them into the site of ruination before her.

As for her appearance, this Pokémon was an elegant, mature looking rabbit. The color of her fur was a basic brown, though her enormous ears, feet, paws, and designs upon her face consisted of a brighter, cotton brown. Her appearance was strikingly seductive, though it was hardly the only thing she was famous for as the leader of an astounding exploration team. Her name was Lopunny, and she headed the brilliant and radiant Team Charm. Unfortunately, contact, let alone explorations, with her two close friends would have to wait. They were nowhere to be seen...

Likewise, Wigglytuff's Guild held forlorn numbers at this time. Amidst the chaos, many apprentices were split up due to the voracious Heartless that rampaged over even the Shaymin Village, thus they have been left with a mere four guild members present and accounted for. Wigglytuff, Chatot, Sunflora, and Bidoof. None of them were capable of escaping at least a little injury from the fierce battle that had taken place at Treasure Town. More awful was the fact that they had left many behind; many they had easily considered loved ones for a commendable length of time.

Having taken in the terrible sights surrounding them, Sunflora burst into tears. She dropped to her knees and pulled the injured Bidoof close to her, beyond traumatized from the calamity she was a part of not a few hours earlier. She fought to protect everything she held dear, and some of them—her friends—were submerged into a grim darkness before her very eyes. Sunflora had only just managed to rescue Bidoof from a Neoshadow. Damage had been dealt in more than a couple ways. Bidoof had been silent throughout the entire escape, which might still have been in effect. Streaks of black, which possibly simulated an odd blood, lined his sides in the shape of claw marks. Something had also managed to scorch a few patches of fur off of him. Sunflora herself was not too badly damaged physically, but this was more than enough to haunt her for the rest of her life, however long that was destined to be now. Bidoof simply kept his head low, the blankest of expressions upon his scarred face.

Chatot and Wigglytuff were slightly scarred, but the case for them was too similar to Sunflora's. Mentally wounded by the apocalyptic swarm of shadows, they caught a glimpse of each other as they attempted to catch their breath. The great Wigglytuff, known for his prodigious stamina and exploration expertise, looked as though he was about to fall face first into the grass. Chatot did just that, one wing out and the other under his chest. Following this startling collapse, Wigglytuff rushed to his aid.

"Chatot!" The guildmaster cried out, his hope beginning to wither. "Chatot, hang in there...! I know one of these Shaymin can help us... They..." Wigglytuff paused, a pulse of pain racing through his head from an earlier blow he had taken. He winced, but quickly came through. "They have a special ability called aroma therapy. They'll help!"

"Huff... Mmph..." Chatot strained himself even grunting, let alone speaking. In spite of that, he did so. "Heh... G-Guildmaster, I'll be fine. Those hellions made their mark on me, but I will not be silenced... Besides..." He hesitated to finish the thought, as the burning sensation within his lungs began to overwhelm his ability to hold back a cough. He hacked a bit, perhaps concerning Wigglytuff a tad more. "The Shaymin have seen better days." He concluded, trying vigorously to keep a humorous spirit about him...

Lopunny approached the scene, a frightened frown on her face. She had taken the least punishment from the Heartless. Her and her friends' priorities revolved around aiding the townsfolk. She was well aware she, Medicham, and Gardevoir stood little a chance against the enormity of the shadows' numbers. She dreaded ever dashing into the fray without her two close partners. Lopunny lacked any other options. The hostile Heartless split the three apart in their disorderly tactics, causing Team Charm's own leader to flee and eventually make contact with four known faces. From the ravaged Apple Woods, she guided the four guild members to that of a safer environment. Allegedly, that barley retained any significant meaning on this land anymore... Lopunny, unsure how to assess the damage at this point, wandered a tad further into the devastated village before coming across a single Shaymin—she knew a thing or two about the Shaymin—who appeared to be in its sky forme. Just as well, it looked to be the only one in the village who was not injured... So it seemed.

"Hey, Shaymin. Can you hear me?" She asked as she crouched to the sky Shaymin's level, one paw on the ground in front of it. Lopunny hoped to get a response from _someone_ nearby, considering all of the villagers names were Shaymin, which made them more than difficult to tell apart. Lopunny guessed they had a system for that. Obviously, it proved to be useless in this when the village became a bedlam of shadows. While that was true, Lopunny's quiet call proved to be the opposite of useless as the Shaymin before her began to stir. Ignoring the qualm she had about this unhurt Shaymin, she moved both paws underneath the Pokémon's chest and lifted, hanging it over her shoulder with both paws securing it. "Hold on... You'll be okay." She assured, turning back to the meager guild...

"Lopunny, who do you have there?" Wigglytuff asked as his good friend from Team Charm approached and set the unusual Pokémon down near Chatot on a patch of grass softer than the rocky dirt it had been upon earlier. Lopunny identified the tone of legitimacy in the guildmaster's voice. It was rare to hear him speak in any serious manner whatsoever...

"Well," Lopunny began, standing back up yet keeping her focus on the Shaymin. "This little one doesn't look as injured as the others. In fact," She paused, returning her attention to Wigglytuff. "It looks like it's responsive..." At this, Wigglytuff blinked a couple times. He was skeptical; not of Lopunny, whom he trusted. He sensed an unorthodox aura about the sky Shaymin, though he was too concerned with his partner Chatot and the rest of the guild to worry for very long.

"Little Shaymin?" Wigglytuff spoke in a soft voice, and indeed the Pokémon was responsive. At this second call, it raised its head and ears in unison. "Are you alright? What happened here...?" He already had a feeling he knew the answer.

"Shaymin...?" The Pokémon took notice of the bird-like creature next to him, as well as the graceful rabbit who held him. Wherever he was at the time, the mood was as low as could be. He felt the cloud of madness lingering overhead. He would have given anything to simply remember what happened here, but the fact remained that his mind was almost completely blank. "Ugh... What in the world happened...?" He asked, slightly frustrated with his lack of memory. He didn't even know who he was! He had been called Shaymin twice now. That meant something.

"I hate to say it, but Treasure Town wasn't the only target." Lopunny started, turning her head to Wigglytuff and sighing softly.

"You're right. They struck here, too." The guildmaster shook his head, his eyes closed in sorrow for the villagers... "Shaymin, can you tell us what you remember? He asked in an imploring tone.

"Easily." He started, lifting himself to his feet with the realization that he was far less sore than previously thought. His head was pounding, but the pain in that had reduced significantly in the past minutes. He almost received a few objections at his decision to stand. Both Wigglytuff and Lopunny were about to speak out about this, though upon seeing how well he managed to stand up, they dismissed their immediate concerns. It did feel _odd_ to stand for some reason... "Yeah, I could easily tell you what I remember, 'cause I remember little to nothing." He concluded, perhaps dousing any hopes for answers or leads or whatever it was the two Pokémon might have wanted. They didn't appear to be a threat, and neither did the other three. And if they were on the bad side, they were clearly not the problem here...

"That's too bad. I wonder what they did to you to make you forget recent events." Lopunny wondered, kneeling in front of Shaymin

"Recent events?" Shaymin raised his head to Lopunny. "Actually, I can't remember anything at all. It's like I'm just a drone or something."

"You're not a drone!" Wigglytuff stated, more hype in his voice now. "Just look at you. You managed to keep in top forme!" The guildmaster noticed a little confusion in the boy's eyes and we stated this. Wigglytuff himself was confused at the sight of the Shaymin. If he had experienced as intense a battle as they had at Treasure Town, he should've been far more injured. Perhaps he switched formes during battle and that eliminated the wounds. Wigglytuff hadn't the slightest clue how that worked, he just knew it happened. If one gave a Shaymin a Gracidea, they essentially evolved.

"Top forme? ...Man... What the heck did I miss this time?" Shaymin asked, not expecting an answer. It might have been nice to receive one.

…

Treasure Town had been abandoned under a darkened sky.

The curtain of a horrible silence had long since fallen upon the once lively town. There was little a soul to be seen. All had evacuated in search of sanctuary elsewhere. However, based on what knowledge Wigglytuff and Lopunny now had, the rampaging shadows marred any chance of absolute safety. For now, however, all was quiet. There were no Pokémon to be seen on the surface of Treasure Town, yet that was not to say none were present.

Within Wigglytuff's Guild, what little life remained of Treasure Town took shelter on the third floor. Truthfully, only four Pokémon held firm underground, two of them being actual longtime residents of the town. They were Riolu and Chimecho. The other two were Futachi and Sora. All four of them were awake, but not necessarily well. Futachi leaned back against the guildmaster's closed door, his arms crossed and head down Chimecho was tending to the other two, not in bad condition herself, yet not free of a few wounds.

"I hope that heal bell did what it could..." Chimecho spoke. She was a small creature who depended on her ability to levitate. Her tiny body was mainly white, with a few streaks of red on her orb-shaped head, which was really her entire body, and on the end of a long tail underneath her. Atop her head was a small golden bell; likely the emitter of the move she had called "heal bell", which had restored the harmed Riolu and Sora to better health. "How are you two feeling?" She hovered closer to both of them. Both Pokémon were sitting near each other under the guild's window, each lacking light to their expressions.

"I'm feeling fine." Sora spoke up, sitting on all fours. Regarding any kind of personal injury of his, he was most concerned with his lack of memory. Now was not the time to dawdle with that. He had a role here, and he was already beginning to understand where it led. There was still no telling how events would come to pass "I still didn't thank the two of you for saving us out there... Thank you both."

"Hm." Futachi grunted quietly as a response. "You two lucky Futachi still here. Vile scum take Chillarmy away from Futachi..." The otter Pokémon shut his eyes tightly and snarled. "Futachi never forgive himself for letting her be taken. Will find her. Alone."

"Futachi, you can't go out there by yourself!" Chimecho exclaimed, uneasy to be left behind with the most feared Pokémon in Treasure Town. Seconds after saying this, he almost wished she hadn't. Futachi gave her a grim glare, though he said nothing in return. Frowning, Chimecho backed away a tad.

"C'mon, she's just looking out for you." Sora stood as he spoke to Futachi. "No need to give her such a harsh look."

"Notib..." Futachi replied to the comment. The term he used originated from a separate language. He used it often. The definition of this word was, quite simply, outsider. Sora was, in more ways than one, an outsider. "Know too little to intervene." Again, Futachi grunted after he spoke, now setting his glare upon Sora, who bravely spoke back.

"I don't have to know anything to help out!" Sora argued, raising his voice a tad. He knew he was arguing with someone that probably saved his life earlier, but felt the strong desire to speak up for Chimecho. It came naturally to him."I just have to be here and well."

"You would not be here if not for Futachi." The water-type argued back, a calmness to his tone. He grunted softly, this time before he spoke. He turned to the ladder leading to the second floor. "Do what you will. Futachi go... to find Chillarmy. You leave soon. Is not safe here anymore." With that, he left the scene swiftly, too determined to hear any calls that might have been made for him. There were none.

"Jovany..." Riolu spoke for the first time since he was rescued. He was beyond mentally scarred. While it was true he had seen perilous times, he had always stood beside Jovany in those times. And to watch his closest friend, partner, and bringer of confidence sink into oblivion was the most terrifying thing he could have ever imagined; a nightmare come true... Was this what Jovany was going through? The very same nightmare he experienced before he awakened? Was Jovany falling into blackness even still, never to return to the realm of light...? All of these thoughts, accompanied by emotion, swarmed the poor Pokémon's head. It manifested. He broke down into tears, hugging his knees close to his chest.

"Riolu, I..." Sora started, unsure where to go from there. He possessed so little memory of anything, so he couldn't possibly have imagined what it was like for the other.

"Don't cry, Riolu... Be strong, like Jovany!" Chimecho attempted to comfort the sorrowful Riolu with these words.

"Th-the only reason I can be strong... I-it's because of Jovany." Riolu spoke through the stammering and sniffling. "Why? Why did this have to happen _again_?" He wailed, burying his face in his legs and sobbing loudly. This caused Chimecho to wince. She knew Riolu had gone through something like this before. Indeed, this was the second time Riolu had watched his partner disappear. No matter how many times this was destined to happen, he would never be used to it. The most dreadful thing to have ever happened to him just occurred a second time.

...An uncomfortable silence settled over the three for a few moments... Sora and Chimecho were doing their best to comfort the despairing Riolu...

Twenty minutes passed before Riolu began to come through for the two. His tears had been reduced to sniffles at this point. Chimecho herself had shed a few tears for Jovany, the guild members, and all her friends of Treasure Town and beyond.

"I wonder how far Futachi's made it." Sora asked, trying to at least change the subject to something that Riolu and Chimecho could have legitimately focused on. It would have worked if the three had not been interrupted by a sudden stirring. Within the same level of the guild, two small shadows swerved about until solidifying on the opposite end of the surface. The small Heartless gazed at the three, ready to strike. Sora growled and stepped forth before conjuring his Keyblade and biting down firmly. He heard a gasp from Chimecho. Before he could have lurched forward, two flashes of blue were seen out of the corners of his eyes. They sped passed him and impacted violently on both of the Heartless, small explosions accompanying black dissipation. Almost in unison, Chimecho and Sora faced the source of this attack.

Riolu stood with both arms extended in front of him, palms forward and glowing with a shimmering blue aura. His teeth were clenched, a fierce glare in his tearing eyes. After five seconds, he exhaled and shut his eyes tightly.

"Sora... Chimecho... I'm sorry. Both of you are right. We have to fight together. It's the only option left. And to do that," He paused for a moment, facing the two with what smile he could have formed at that moment...

"We have to start exploring."


	7. Nobody Special

**_Chapter 7: Nobody Special_**

**_Note: _**_Again, kind of like the previous part, though a bit more exciting. I apologize for taking so long to get this thing up. I had a conundrum with my old computer, which ensued in me getting a whole new one. Gotta say, did that nonsense in record time though! The end of this chapter is kind of a "WHAT?" invoker... Enjoy!_

**_Disclaimer:_**_ I don't claim possession over characters originating from the franchises of Square Enix, Disney, Game Freak, and The Pokémon Company, Chun Soft, or Nintendo._**_ They belong to their rightful owners. _**_Few characters are original._

* * *

><p>The dark overcast arrived with precipitation bound to follow. The rainfall spread across a vast distance over the land, accompanied with roaring thunder and blinding lightning. One would have been able to distinguish the anomalous storm with the greatest ease, though an answer was yet to be reached: the thunder quaked the skies, followed by a flicker of violent lightning.<p>

Sora noticed this phenomenon and could not have helped but acknowledge its existence to his current fellows, who he had just left the safety—from the rain only—of the guild. The boy, now an Eevee, lifted his head to the sky, fur rapidly becoming drenched in the heavy rainfall. An awkward yet spiritual sensation stimulated his new, perhaps improved senses. He could not hold onto his memory following whatever events brought him here. What were things like before this transformation? Before this new arrival? He had only just begun to ask himself this, and already a world calamity had come and passed. In truth, it was still too early to announce its ending. Like Sora's estranged and perplexed mind, it had only just begun to take effect, affect others, and, in a sense, be affected.

"Do storms like this normally happen?" Sora asked, eyes to the sky, quite fortunate to avoid raindrops assaulting his face. Riolu shook his head, as if prepared to answer. Chimecho was the first to speak, however.

"Storms occur occasionally, but they don't-" A raindrop struck her bell, sounding a small ring which interrupted her. "Well, this is a rare kind of storm. It's pretty rough!" She finished, Riolu opening his mouth to speak.

"I've lived here for a while and I've seen a few storms, but I've never heard of a storm where the lightning flashes after the thunder." He managed to say, answering Sora's unasked question. "We shouldn't hang out around here too long." Riolu stated, the other two nodding firmly in agreement. The three had only just reached the crossroads. Before moving ahead too far, Riolu stopped, a paw moving to the back of his head and rubbing briefly. "I was going to suggest we search the Beach Cave for any survivors, but it's probably flooded by now."

"Oh!" Chimecho rang out slightly. "The ocean levels are high, right? So I think we can cross the cave off."

"The Beach Cave?" Sora felt inclined to ask.

"It's a tiny mystery dungeon right on the beach, really." Riolu answered, half expecting to receive another question.

"Should I know a thing or two about a 'mystery dungeon'?" Sora asked again, tilting his head in a fashion that caused an ear to topple to the side a tad. Riolu faced the eastern direction which led to the outer world and gave his response a quick moment's thought.

"Yes, but... I'll tell you everything you need to know as soon as we're out of the open." Riolu responded, motioning with his arm for the two to follow him into the wilderness. "Let's get going. I have an idea where we can check first."

Without hesitation or objection, Chimecho and Sora followed the blue Pokémon. Neither one of them knew what Riolu's intentions were. Both knew they were jumbled and disturbed by his trauma. Just as the thought of Riolu's trauma struck Sora, he had to wonder why the Heartless—he still thought they were Pokémon of some sort—were so few now. Why were these creatures here in the first place? Were they alone...?

He doubted it.

…

On the other end of Treasure Town, an unprepared Futachi stood surrounded by creatures far stranger than what he believed to be a sort of shadow Pokémon. With his shells wielded, he growled as he scanned around, no signs of escaped. The humanoid creatures that surrounded him appeared to be in midair sightly, each of them gray-skinned and wearing what one could have assumed as purple bodysuits. There were about five, and all of them aimed a golden crossbow, or so the weapon seemed to be, at Futachi. The others surrounding the Pokémon were exactly the same creatures Sora encountered in the Soar: Dusks. Standing in front of Futachi was another cloaked figure, something that, based on recent patterns, signaled an uprising of perilous or otherwise interesting events. The cloaked man possessed no weapon, at least at the moment, and his face, like those previously seen in these common yet peculiar coats, was concealed greatly.

"We could do this all day, Seashells, and here I am using the the word 'day' lightly." The cloaked figure scoffed.

"Notib!" Futachi retorted with a grunt. "You create fowl creatures to ruin home of innocents. Is unforgivable!"

"Us? As if! Those Heartless can do whatever makes 'em happy. They aren't our problem. As of now, we've got better things to do."

"How do Pokémon play into schemes...? Is wise choice to leave now!" Futachi snarled at the figure, shifting his stance in a manner that caused a few of the "Snipers", so they were called, to inch forward, essentially warning Futachi not to move again. He simply growled in response.

"It's a messy story, all of it." The figure raised his arms and shrugged. "Boss Man told me not to go an proclaim nonsense to you Pokéguys, but I'll tell you this: you could say we're tending to the damage a certain hero caused. Saaaaay, you wouldn't happen to have seen a boy about this high," He motioned with his hand to a point in the center of his chest, apathetic about the actual height of the boy. "Has a weird lookin' blade, crazy hair, bratty attitude... Did I mention the weird lookin' blade?

"Futachi know not of boy, if is human. Could not care less."

"Tell you what, if you speak up..." The figure leaned in, as if about to whisper something of a secret to the Pokémon. Given Futachi's size, he did not necessarily accomplish this. "We might just let you see your little bunny girlfriend again." Having heard this, and immediately understanding just who the man was speaking of, he stepped forward with a ferocious, aggressive intention to break this figure in half with a potent hydro pump. Again, the Snipers reacted, causing the water-type's sudden rage to dwindle down a tad. Their reactions replicated the previous.

"What have you _done_ to Chillarmy?" Futachi asked, his voice raised. Following this question came the roaring thunder... The cloaked figure straightened out, his gloved hands on his hips. The lightning came... If only Futachi could have seen his expression, it was very possible that alone would have been enough to completely set him off, for he felt a manipulating aura from this... human... When the human didn't answer, he shifted the question. "Who... are you...?

"Me...?" The shady man vexed Futachi by giving this a moment's consideration. He scoffed. "I'm nobody... Look, Seashells. Here's the deal. You think you can win in this scenario? As if! No one can! So, if you want Chillarmy or Calmnavy or whoever back, you gotta find the kid for us. You know, he's the one who actually caused all this...? He's playing innocent, I'm sure." He explained, noticing the fury in Futachi's demeanor begin to dissipate even further. Futachi's head fell, his eyes closed in tormented thought.

"Chillarmy, Futachi do anything to have you back... No hurt her. Will find boy." Futachi obliged, still hanging his head low.

"There you go." As he responded, the Snipers and Dusks surrounding Futachi began to fade into a spatial grayness. The man extended an arm out to the side, fingers apart. A dark pulse scintillated from his fingers and traveled a few feet behind him before practically planting itself into the ground as the seed of a corridor of darkness. It sprouted as a swirling ova of blue and black subspace. "We'll be watchin' you. And remember, the kid's a full-fledged-" Thunder cut the man's voice for a moment. "...-blade wielder! 'I mention that? It's kinda important." The hooded man stepped back a few feet, still watching Futachi. Slowly, his physical presence began to merge with the corridor. "Don't go failing us now. Eyes on the prize, and don't forget to teach that brat a little lesson about sticking his nose where it really doesn't belong..." With this, the figure and the portal faded into the rain...

"...Blade..." Futachi repeated to himself quietly as he gazed into the thunderous, dark sky.

…

Elsewhere, the torrential rain cascaded down upon the survivors of the Heartless rampage. Some time had passed since what few members of the guild remained embarked on their quick journey to sanctuary. These guild members, plus the famed Lopunny, have reached the Shaymin Village, which has witnessed destruction parallel to that of Treasure Town's. A couple of the local Shaymin have awakened and done what they can to restore Chatot and Bidoof to at least adequate health. They were definitely in much better shape than they were not five minutes ago. The lone sky Shaymin still fell short of remembering anything of his long term, let alone immediate, past, though even he was quick-witted enough to realize that it probably was not the biggest of everyone's concern. It would have to have been seen through at another time.

"Thank you so much for your help!" Guildmaster Wigglytuff exclaimed his gratitude to the Gratitude Pokémon in front of him. This Shaymin, in its normal forme, was capable of accelerating the recovery of both Chatot and Bidoof with its aroma therapy ability. This alone shocked Lopunny. The Shaymin had literally been through the same chaos she had, yet it was entirely capable of lending a helpful paw. These villagers were not pushovers.

"You're quite welcome. I hope what I've done is enough for now. I will awaken my fellow Shaymin so that we may have the means necessary to fully assist your cause. At the moment, please take shelter from the rain in our gathering hut right over there." The Shaymin spoke, pointing with its nose at, facetiously, the only actual standing building in the village.

"Understood. Chatot!" Wigglytuff called, looking over the minuscule Pokémon, where he saw Bidoof and Sunflora speaking to the memory-challenged sky Shaymin. Chatot and Lopunny approached Wigglytuff from the side, having gained what intelligence they could off of the Heartless' tracks of destruction.

"You called, Guildmaster?" Chatot asked, showing to be in much better condition.

"Oh, there you are." Wigglytuff turned to his right and took notice of Lopunny, whom he was happy to see Chatot with. His assistant's condition was a bit fickle, so he ventured it was ideal to have another Pokémon watch over him. Even Chatot seemed in agreement with this. "It's time to head inside. I know how much you hate having your feathers soa-" Chatot squawked before the guildmaster finished speaking.

"Squawk! Certainly! Let's go, let's go!" Wings flapping, the eager assistant hurried on into the shelter, already well aware of where to head...

It took under two minutes to gather what little Pokémon remained into the hut, which had a very grassy interior, a soft dirt ground, a small raised, wooden platform at one end of the building, and, above all, it was dry inside. Wigglytuff stood on the platform with Lopunny at his side, nary significant of an audience in front of him. This consisted of Bidoof, Sunflora, Chatot, and the mysterious sky Shaymin.

"Good to see those who are here are all accounted for." The guildmaster started, a tad hesitant to announce what exactly his plans were at the moment. They did not concern the well being of his friends, which, to him, was the biggest flaw already... There was an eerie silence that awaited Wigglytuff's next words. It made the guildmaster uncomfortable. He was so accustomed to the guild's chatter in the morning briefings. Quite honestly, one of those morning briefings occurred not so long ago prior to being disrupted by the Heartless. "We have the Shaymin to thank for being as kind to adventurers as always, even in their physical state." At this comment, there were a few murmurs of agreement, which, in turn, gave Wigglytuff the confidence to continue. "But, as you all know, those shadow creatures can very well still be out there, and we have to do our best to keep them down!"

"By golly!" Came Bidoof's voice. Though shaky, he sounded much better. The fact that he was talking at all was progress. "I sure don't mean any disrespect, but we aren't cut out to fight those Pokémon in their numbers, Guildmaster."

"Surely!" Chatot stated, shifting his attention to Bidoof. "The guildmaster knows this. Clearly, we should not have a problem picking them off one by one, am I correct?"

"Yes." Wigglytuff affirmed, nodding a tad. "They aren't invincible at all! So long as they aren't coming at us in the hundreds, we'll be fine!" Wigglytuff smiled after he spoke. In contrast to the smile, this statement seemed a bit unnerving for Bidoof and Sunflora.

"Eek!" Sunflora started, petals at her mouth for a moment. "But, Guildmaster! Even if there were about ten, there's no telling how well we'd do!"

"Well..." One of the voices came. It was the sky Shaymin's. All eyes in the room were now on him. "You all have my cooperation, whatever the heck the extent of that may be. I remember a thing or two about fighting, and..." He paused, hanging his head low for a second. "...Agh, it's killing me not remembering anything! I feel like I'm missing something..."

"I'm sure you'll remember in time, Shaymin. We're all very grateful for the help your kin are lending us." Wigglytuff spoke, though as he did so, suspicion was ignited in Lopunny. And this suspicion focused on something that would have otherwise passed over everyone's head.

"Shaymin, this is slightly off topic, but it is pretty dark out... How long are you able to stay in sky forme?"

"Sky forme?" Again, he was faced with this "form" statement. He wasn't entirely sure what it meant, but based on the other villagers being called Shaymin, he believed to have an idea. "I... don't remember." In truth, he failed to understand in the first place. Lopunny nodded, yet said nothing further. She dismissed the suspicions for now...

"Well!" Chatot flapped his wings, all eyes now on him. "That should simplify things! Guildmaster, would it not be a good idea to seek out the other members of the guild?"

"Of course!" Wigglytuff gave a rote response. "I'm really worried about everyone! We can't all go out there though. It's way too dangerous!"

"Well, with the help of the other Shaymin, we should be able to hold our own if another small attack comes. I suggest we send small teams out short distances around the area." Lopunny explained, arms now crossed with her head tilted slightly, giving her plan in progress continuous thought.

"Brilliant, yes." Chatot agreed. "Who shall we send as a... hm..." The assistant stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, giving his next terms thoughts... "Rescue teams...?"

"I'll volunteer. I really need to understand what's happening around here. Maybe I'll remember something." Shaymin spoke out, his head high.

"We appreciate your desire to help, but-" Chatot was interrupted by the guildmaster.

"Right! Then it's settled! How about you form a rescue team with Bidoof and Sunflora here? I think you'll do fine!" The impulsive guildmaster explained, causing a bit of an objection from Chatot.

"Wh-what? Guildmaster, we don't know enough about this Shaymin to have him take our apprentices out in such a dangerous environment! Are you sure this strategy will work?"

"Yep! I have faith in Shaymin. I think these three will make a great team!"

"Wigglytuff, Dear..." Buneary started, giggling to herself a little bit. She was glad to see Wigglytuff return to his hyper-enthusiastic manner, even during this kind of dark climate. It was rather uplifting. "The old you is showing." ...

With that established, Shaymin, Bidoof, and Sunflora formed a trio based around locating members of the guild, town, or any Pokémon that appeared to be in danger. The time to forge onward and counter the Heartless was on everyone's mind, although Wigglytuff, Chatot, and Lopunny remained behind at the village in order to expand the refuge and let survivors know that this was the place to be. It would be some time before they would join the campaign themselves. With the Shaymin villagers as very capable "healers", so to speak, the foundation of what would soon come to be known as the Central Refuge was set...

Bidoof and Sunflora, perhaps feeling ready to tackle the scenario, were completely fine with their guildmaster's decision to send them with the sky Shaymin. The two were nervous to so quickly return to the battlefield, but there was something far more important than themselves at stake. Their world, which felt so much smaller, was in danger. This time, its immediate fate was not in the hands of Team Crimsongleam. Every Pokémon on the planet possessed the ability to begin a train of events that might just save it...

Given this assignment, which brought the first rescue team to the west of the Shaymin Village. They had been sent out to the nearby Apple Woods. Chatot and Lopunny worked together to utilize a strategy that made the most logical sense: Apple Woods' resources were plentiful, thus a high number of refugees were predicted to be taking shelter here, if at all possible in the rainfall. The trees were thick enough to provide cover... And, of course, Wigglytuff saw the opportunity for a bonus: they were likely to bring back a perfect apple! If not, it would've been fine. Now was not the time to be fawning over that.

The newly born trio set out for a world of darkened mystery dungeons. Soon enough, they came to the brink of one of these "supercharged" versions of a dungeon far too dangerous for the average Pokémon...

…

In the midst of the storm, an ordeal came...

"Hey, hey! Let her go!"

"You'd BETTER make this easy, or you're going to be in a world of HURT!"

The origins of these voices were chasing a tall figure dressed in nothing but black. A hood concealed his facial features. This kind of "Pokémon" was strikingly unfamiliar, so much so that calling this figure a human was acceptable. In his arms was a struggling, yet restrained, six-tailed creature that appeared to be a small red fox.

"L-let me go, you creep!" Yelped the little vixen. To other ears, her voice would have had a shocking resemblance to someone else's...

Before the figure could have made it too far from his pursuers, a lone lash of green energy struck him back—he hadn't been paying attention all that well, which was a trait of his certain others found irritating—and his grip on whom he held captive loosened. This vixen, a Vulpix, sprinted back to her new friends as quickly as she could, expecting to be blasted with some sort of water as she was earlier. The three, being her, Corphish, and Loudred, a recent graduate of Wigglytuff's Guild, stood together and watched this black hooded figure rise once again, facing his opponent with a large, sitar-shaped weapon that literally solidified out of thin air.

"Darn it, I didn't sign up for this! No one said there'd be fighting if I played the cards right." The man spoke, a hint of anxiety in his tone.

"I suggest you leave." The green, almost lizard-like creature's voice was heard. The tone was as gentle as it was threatening. "Unless you want me to repay you what I owe to your entire Organization right here and now." The green Pokémon with a long, dark leaf attached to its head stepped forward once, ready to unleash a devastating leaf blade...

"Alright, alright! Just chill out. Sheesh!" The figure raised his hands following the disappearance of his weapon back into the mist, as if telling the other he no longer meant harm. "Didn't expect to see your faces here again. 'Thought we got rid of you in the future, but it looks like I'll be telling the Big Guy that's a no-no. See you later!" Without even conjuring a corridor of darkness, as most of these hooded figures have done, he jolted off in a direction not blockaded by trees or Pokémon. It was clear to everyone that he possessed separate intentions. For now, the would have to wait, as Corphish and Loudred identified Vulpix's savior...

"Grovyle...?"

"...Wigglytuff's apprentices..." The Pokémon called Grovyle sighed, his eyes closed in what looked like an absence of hope... "How could I ever explain this...?" He gazed forward at the three, a look of unlikely desperation in his golden eyes...


	8. Part 1: Tribulation

**_Chapter 8: Tri~bulation Part 1_**

**_Note:_**_ I felt the concept of this chapter was a little sketchy. __There were a lot of ways to begin the bridge to many answers, and I picked a strange way to start building. The sneak peek turned out to be no short of garbage when a few things got tweaked. I'll try not to do that again. Anyway, this got separated into two different parts because it's disgustingly long for one of my chapters. I think part 1 will only raise more questions, especially in regards to Shaymin. It's a "wtf" probably on parallel with Grovyle's appearance._**_  
><em>**

**_Disclaimer:_**_ I don't claim possession over characters originating from the franchises of Square Enix, Disney, Game Freak, and The Pokémon Company, Chun Soft, or Nintendo._**_ They belong to their rightful owners. _**_Few characters are original._

* * *

><p>The storm refused to relent.<p>

Just as well, Sora, Riolu, and Chimecho proved not to be pushovers in their quest together. Having left Treasure Town in search of anyone they might have known, they have faced a few of the dreaded Heartless in three unfamiliar forms: a balloon-shaped Heartless with demon-like horns, a small teardrop-shaped Heartless with black wings that double as legs, and a strange, small four-legged beast of a Heartless with four serrated spikes atop its head and a trail of spikes that form into a spiny tail. In this order, the technical names of these Heartless were the Darkball, Bit Sniper, and the newest Pureblood called the Spinerush. Ironically, one of each of these dark creatures were fought about half of a mile from the crossroads...

"Look out!" Chimecho rang out as she was able to identify an unpleasant presence. That presence shown itself as the Darkball, rocketing into plain view. It would have made impact with Riolu if it were not for Chimecho's hasty instruction. Instinctively, Riolu dived to the side, allowing his aura to flow upward to his head upon rolling and sitting up on one knee. Aura vision. He was capable of defining shapes much more efficiently in this darkness. Thus, he discovered another Heartless lurked nearby. This tear-shaped entity emitted a sort of dark heat that distorted its photon appearance in Riolu's vision; appearing as sort of a dark gray blob. Nonetheless, he was more than capable of seeing it, ergo he leaped into battle with it.

Just as well, Sora found himself facing a Heartless he, in the past, has not yet seen. It encroached from behind, suggesting that it might have been stalking the trio. Upon hearing its footsteps, Sora's large ears twitched as he spun around to face this Heartless abomination, Keyblade in mouth. Both were on all fours, though it was simple to see which of the two was the larger: the Spinerush, although the weaker. Immediately, Sora sprang forward, ready to slice the dark creature in two. His efforts showed to be reckless as his opponent decided to lurch forward at the same moment he had. Unfortunately, the Eevee had just noticed the fowl creature was practically covered in dark spines. He attempted to swerve out of the way in midair, only half successful as he felt a spine tear into his side. Upon landing, he bit down on the blade's hilt, the enhanced pain of corruption entering his body, though doing no internal harm before escaping. He faced his foe, snarling. It growled menacingly in return, ready to pounce Sora, effectively impaling him at the same time. It lurched once again, yet this time it played into a quickly thought trap. Sora remained still, tilting his head downward, then bringing it up quickly as the Heartless leaped above him. His Keyblade halved the creature, following its complete dissipation.

Chimecho had dealt with the Darkball with far less difficulty than Sora had done the Spinerush. The foe maneuvered as she did, albeit it a sort of contorted manner. Occasionally, it jolted for her, converting briefly into a cloud of purple mist before re-solidifying accompanied with a small, circular shock wave. It was easily avoided, and never was there a moment where this enemy was untouchable to Chimecho's psychic abilities. Each time the creature was in her sight, Chimecho let loose a multicolored stream of light which penetrated the Darkball. Repeating this routine of dodging and countering twice, she did away with the creature.

Riolu had the least trouble fending off his Heartless. By far. All that was required of him was a sudden, aura-empowered hammer punch to the foe's head. It managed an attack before its defeated, however, which was a minuscule ball of black energy, partially absorbed by Riolu's own aura, though not thoroughly nullified, thus ensuing in a quiet grunt of pain as it impacted with Riolu's chest.

...Thunder cracked...

Following this was the sound of the pattering of heavy rain...

The three backed into each other, prepared to face any further foes... When they realized this would not come to pass at this second, they faced each other with expressions that brightened the darkness. All but Sora, and Chimecho noticed this effective immediately.

"Sora, you're hurt..." She spoke, referring to the large gash in Sora's side. He was not necessarily losing blood at a fast rate, although it was very possible that the wound could become infected, among other things in the haunted wild.

"Ugh, yeah. Whatever that thing was, it got me good... I don't ever remember fighting something like that." The now bladeless Eevee spoke, one eye shut in pain as the raindrops trickled down his side and dragged across his gash, reddening as they reached the ground.

"I don't think I can use my heal bell... I... drained all of my energy using it during the shadow Pokémon attack at Treasure Town." Chimecho admitted, frowning as she came to realize how low on energy she truly was.

"I wish I had been prepared, but I'm pretty sure Jovany had a lot of our supplies." Riolu scratched at the back of his head as he glanced forward into what seemed to be a darkening. "It's pitch black over there. We've been going east for some time, and I think we've come pretty far. I wasn't expecting to run into a mystery dungeon so soon though."

"Me neither. Riolu, I don't think that one was there." Chimecho agreed, referring to the earlier encounter with a small, troublesome mystery dungeon they had trekked across not too far beyond the crossroads. "It was so unexpected."

"It was, but..." Riolu paused, returning his attention to Sora. "We can't stay here any longer. Sora's injured, and I think we're going to be heading into the Oran Forest. If we're lucky, we'll find an abundance of oran berries."

"Oran berries...?" Sora questioned, breathing a bit heavily.

"They're pretty small berries with work wonders on your recovery rate. I'll explain more when we see them." Riolu clarified as he began heading into the woods. Assured the others were following, he continued speaking, albeit doing so while facing forward should any Heartless decide to arrange an ambuscade. "Although I said I'd do that for mystery dungeons. Seeing as how we already crossed one, I think you get the idea. But, if you were to go back to the mystery dungeon we just cleared, you'll be surprised to see the geography of it completely change." Riolu explained, crossing the treeline. In courtesy of the others, he focused his aura to his paws, each paw emanating a feeble radiance which was adequate enough to light the surroundings to a certain extent. It was unnerving, as the thought of piercing golden eyes in the darkness frightened Chimecho...

"The land itself can change?" Sora asked, feeling the need to limp, though walking casually.

"It can! Not only that, but if you are bested in a mystery dungeon, hostile Pokémon are sure to steal a lot of valuables you're carrying. Some of these places are scarier than others. The one we crossed was... odd... The only Pokémon I saw were those shadowy things. Are they a whole new breed of Pokémon...?" Riolu spoke, although not expecting to hear that last bit from himself out loud. It was a thought expressed aloud, and he stopped these thoughts with the fear that he might have gone off on a tangent. He was fairly good at that.

"I'm not sure, but these mystery dungeons sound like pretty strange places..." Sora responded, intrigued at this concept. He wished that he could simply sit down with Riolu and Chimecho, listening about the tales of these places. It would have distracted him from his wound, although it wouldn't have eliminated its existence.

"You'd better brace yourself then." Riolu stated, raising an brow as something seemed to dawn on him. "We're about to enter one."

…

Finally, the rain came to a temporary halt. Drops fell to the Heartless-trodden grounds from the thick leaves of the trees. Shaymin, Bidoof, and Sunflora have discovered a vile mystery dungeon, though quite small in size. Upon entering this terrible wilderness, Bidoof and Sunflora recognized the area as Apple Woods, though the trunks of the trees were blackened with odd, green veins reaching the branches and polluting the fruits, which were mainly apples. The grass, just as well, was darkened, frequent symbolic streaks of gleaming green spread across the ground...

"Golly, what happened to this place...?" Bidoof asked,glancing in both directions as he walked by Sunflora's side, Shaymin still leading the group. He was only willing to do so if the two provided him with proper instructions and directions.

"I don't know, but it's spooky here. Did those dark Pokémon do this...?" Sunflora questioned, a petal at her chin.

Shaymin refused to speak. The look in his eyes would have caused anyone else to believe he had seen an apparition. He felt he was treading upon hollowed ground in a hollow body. With every step he took, his mind pulsed. It lacked pain, which was a positive aspect. It was bothersome, however. It was as if his brain was attempting to recall something dramatically imperative to the fate of a very world, and he knew naught about it. His own mind was working against him. He wished he could have screamed at it to stop, but how could this have been possible? How could his mind stop his mind...?

"Shaymin? Are you doing okay?" Sunflora noticed the troubled Pokémon.

"I guess I'm alright, but... This place isn't. There's something about it that I think my body recognizes. It's strange, but..." Shaymin shook his head, his long ears nearly slapping him in the face. "...It's so annoying!" He pouted, frustrated once again.

"We'll get to the bottom of it, yup yup." Bidoof spoke. When Shaymin stopped directly in front of them, he feared he might have said something that insulted the other. This was not the case. He and Sunflora came to a stop in unison, pondered. "Oof, Shaymin? We almost bumped into you there!"

"Sorry..." He apologized quietly, his wing-shaped ears raising a tad. The sensation of goosebumps appearing under his fur triggered a shiver...

Empathy, or perhaps the lingerer itself, triggered the very same shiver for Sunflora and Bidoof. So, what was this mutual feeling? It was the cliché feeling of being watched over. Very much so "over".

"G-gee... Is s-something out there...?" Bidoof mustered the courage to speak.

As he did so, Shaymin watched the ground carefully. He rubbed the dirt back and forth with a fore paw, brows furrowed. A trail of luminous green appeared to be _flowing_ backwards. Shaymin had paid special attention to the landscape that was most likely causing him to feel demented. The glowing streams did not show this behavior regularly. In fact, this was the first time he had seen it... Was it? ...Was it the first time he had ever seen it?

Impossible.

A disturbingly eerie moaning sounded from somewhere. The moaning reverberated with a pitch that rose, than fell, than rose again. There was an ear-piercing quality about it, yet it was deep. Either way, it was an awful sound to hear in the midst of a woods blackened to a point of horror beyond words. The more the three idled, the more time they were given to be mentally tortured by the thoughts of the trees coming alive with banshees...

...Corruption...

Two long, black tendrils hovered above Bidoof and Sunflora. These tendrils, tipped with three-pronged neon green-edged vines, seemed to "sniff" at Shaymin's sides. They hovered close, Shaymin unsuspecting of them. The same was not true for the other two. They were petrified with horror. If one of them spoke out, surely the origin of the dark vines would react. The moaning continued. Both dared not look back to see the Pokémon which controlled these tendrils.

It was too late to scream out at any rate. As quickly as Shaymin came to a stop in front of his partners, the three-prongded vines impaled his sides in a symmetrical fashion. With his head raised, he howled in pain. The two horrified Pokémon finally came to their senses and faced the opposite direction. They had almost wished they hadn't. The culprit of this action was, in fact, not a Pokémon at all. A blackened tree with a single, large orb of green on its upper trunk, simulating an eye, watched over the three Pokémon, moaning from each of its many, randomly located jagged mouths. The tree was devoid of leaves, and rather had an additional eight of these black tendrils, which acted as branches. Of a sort.

Thinking as quickly as she could, Sunflora spun around and, with a flap of one of her petals, unleashed a flurry of serrated leaves through one of the tendrils impaling Shaymin. It managed to slice through the thing. The monstrous tree sensed resistance... though not from Sunflora. It retrieved the unscathed tendril, a few of its distorted mouths now growling... Neither Bidoof nor Sunflora were very certain how to handle a nightmarish foe such as this, and the fact that Shaymin was... laughing... was not aiding them in any way.

"Heheh... Heheheh... Ahahahaha!" At first, the crazed Pokémon's head was lowered. His hysterical laughter shifted, causing him to raise his head. Now, his two frightened friends appeared torn between Scylla and Charybdis. Shaymin turned around, a terrible grin upon his face. This look was extremely unnecessary at the moment, though... It was directed not at the innocents, but the enemy. "That's right..." Shaymin spoke darkly. Vehemently, tendrils of a similar property lurched from the six openings in his body cause none other than by the monster itself. His own black vines shot forth, spiraling into each other before piercing through the monstrous tree's eye, emitting from the other end, which happened to be through one of the thing's mouths. "Steer clear!" Shaymin yelled, ordering the two to move aside. Without any second thoughts, confusion aside, they dashed under the protagonist's vines and behind him, watching carefully for his next move. "Goodbye." Shaymin spoke softly before commanding his tendrils to fan out violently, effectively uncurling the spiral they had created. This attack occurred within the body of the beast, yet was powerful enough to tear outward in six different directions, a deafening shriek following this mutilation. Within seconds, the creature was vaporized in a fog of radiant green and pulsing black...

...The shriek was carried on the storm's winds...

...Tremulous were the two who witnessed...

"Guys, I remember a bit now..." The "mutated" Pokémon turned his body entirely, now facing the appalled allies of his, his vines curved upward above him. He apprehended their fear, and he tried his very best to eliminate it. Fear was a tactic he recalled that he learned to use instinctively against his enemies. He knew not why he did this... He would have to adjust to toning this down quite a bit for the others. And he had to be honest with himself. He was none too terrifying in this form. Evidently, he was in these parts: a tiny Pokémon with large, expanding tentacles rising from _holes_ in his body. "Don't be scared, I just get a little crazy sometimes. You see, I'm... I'm a weapon. And I came here from a different world..." He forced his mind not to trail off. There were many things we was still trying to remember. "That thing you saw was called a Nightmare. It attacked me because..." Shaymin paused, his head lowered. "I think it knew who I was..."

"Eek! J-just who are you?" Sunflora inquired, petals near her mouth once again. She knew Bidoof was probably getting indigestion at the... complicated fact that this Pokémon before their very eyes was, in a sense, a mutant and a weapon.

"...Yeah." Shaymin nodded once, giving the two a chagrined smile. He was ashamed that he was incapable of even remembering his name up to this point. "Yeah, I can tell you my real name. It's Cruce. Some just call me a freak 'cause of what I'm able to do... Feel free to..." The one called Cruce looked away sheepishly, ears splayed, and tendrils lowering all the way to the ground. This image of him revealed to Sunflora and Bidoof a certain innocence that sparked enough courage within both of them to speak out.

"By golly, Cruce! You sure are different, but neither one of us want to call you a freak. You saved us back there from that monster of a tree, yup yup!" Bidoof encouraged, nodding to himself happily.

"And you remembered a little bit about yourself! You took a big step forward already!" Sunflora added, clapping her petals together a few times.

"Hm, I guess..." Cruce started, facing ahead once more. "I'll tell you what else I know a little bit later. For now, we have to scram. I trust Chatot and Lopunny and all, but I doubt any Pokémon in their right mind would be staying in this forest."

"Yup!" Bidoof agreed. "I sure don't want to come back this way... Maybe there's a detour around?

"Chin up Bidoof! Cruce really can handle those no good Nightmares should it come to that!" Sunflora encouraged, or at least attempted to.

"Oof. They're still a mighty lot scarier than those other shadow Pokémon we saw. You wouldn't happen to know a thing or two about those, would you Cruce?" Bidoof asked, probably bound to receive an answer far too complicated for his mind to process. Perhaps the question itself was a bit complex. Cruce did not answer right away, shown by his decision to walk passed his partners, also refusing to withdraw his tendrils. They gave off a gentle illumination, which was practical for more than a couple reasons. When he kept moving forward, the two fell under the assumption that it was time to keep up. He spoke as they caught up with him. "Shadow Pokémon, shadow Pokémon. I keep hearing this. Based on Wigglytuff's description, I wouldn't say I know 'em. They don't sound scary enough to be Nightmares, but they don't really sound weak or anything." He replied to Bidoof's question, feeling he hadn't answered much.

"Aw, shoot. Thought you might have known a thing or two." Bidoof responded, a tad disappointed.

"Sorry. Though, as you ask this, I feel like I'm missing something that's, again, on the tip of my tongue." Cruce rolled his eyes, beyond bothered at this repetitive sensation. He wished the subject to change...

"Oh, the plants, they..." Sunflora started, running forward and placing a petal against a brown, solid surface which was enough to enlighten Bidoof. It was a regular tree, untouched by the strange corruption! "They're back to normal!" Beyond this tree, the grass was green, the streaks of neon unseen, and the world potentially clean. Bidoof joined his fellow apprentice. It would have been an uplifting sight for Cruce had he known that the Nightmares, which remained cloaked in mystery to all others, did not reside so close. He simply chuckled as he approached the two elated Pokémon.

"We're making progress." Cruce affirmed, hoping not to jinx this fact. In truth, the trio had only seen a few foes, most of which were the aforementioned "shadow Pokémon". His teammates were excellent fighters, although Bidoof needed a helping of confidence, and Sunflora's overcautious nature was easily revealed in battle. He didn't want to blame her. Based on from what he has heard at the refuge, she had every right to be cautious around the dark interlopers, despite her earlier actions in regard to the Nightmare tree...

The three kept a fair pace through the woods, brightened by the glowing tips of Cruce's seemingly ever present tendrils. How he could have summoned these, let alone maintained them for so long with radiance, was undoubtedly bizarre to the guild members. Both desired to ask how Cruce was capable of mimicking the Nightmare's ability, though they reminded themselves the answers would come soon...

The rainfall had already subsided. The clouds had recently parted, revealing a crescent moon smiling eyelessly in the cosmos... The three reached what they assumed to be a clearing in the woods, although far from it. The place they entered was unique: a circular area with but one massive tree in the center, providing cover from the rain, as well as food for those who took shelter beneath it... Pokémon indeed called this a sanctuary: the Woodland Refuge. This little-known area was the threshold between Oran Forest and Apple Woods, the enormous hybrid tree at its center providing the Pokémon with both oran berries and perfect apples. Torches surrounded the shockingly populated area, providing more light than Cruce could have done. As the rescue team arrived, they received a variety of looks, most of which were focused on Cruce.

In return, Bidoof and Sunflora found that they knew more than a few of those in the area. They saw one of the Kecleon from the market, Chansey from the daycare, Xatu from the appraisal stand, Zubat and Koffing from Team Skull, Weavile from Team AWD, a Vulpix near... Corphish and Loudred from the guild! Next to them was Grovyle from... the future...?

Another three layers of complexity were added...

* * *

><p><em>To be Continued...<em>

_Honestly, most of these chapters flow into one another already. So, technically, all of them follow this "to be continued" rule. Granted, there's a different idea with all of them. Following chapter 8, the "adventure" will commence, and the answers will be more spread across the story, rather than introducing a thousand concepts at once while trying to answer about half immediately after._

_Another note: Sora and Riolu are portrayed as the main characters because of their positions in their actual games. When I was given the option to list two characters, I felt I needed to complete, in essence, the stats of the story. Sora and Riolu are already a duo in the story, but they will almost always be joined by a third or fourth or even fifth character in their adventure. _

_Part 2 is on the way! Shouldn't be long now._


	9. Part 2: Tribulation

**_Chapter 8: Tri~bulation Part 2_**

**_Note: _**_...Uh... I forgot... I'll get back to you all on that when I'm not as tired. Anyway, Chapter 8 officially ends here, though it's kinda vague. Big explanation part, even though that's as vague too. So yeah! Enjoy the nonsense~!_**_  
><em>**

**_Disclaimer:_**_ I don't claim possession over characters originating from the franchises of Square Enix, Disney, Game Freak, and The Pokémon Company, Chun Soft, or Nintendo._**_ They belong to their rightful owners. _**_Few characters are original._

* * *

><p>The moonlight scorched through the black clouds.<p>

The Oran Forest was little a challenge for the three.

Sora, Riolu, and Chimecho made a bewildering discovery beyond this mystery dungeon! What appeared to be a clearing in the woods was actually a special refuge, which had formed quite quickly and strategically, for many of the Pokémon from Treasure Town and beyond. It was exhilarating how rapidly everyone had managed to collaborate and form a well-thought out refuge under such pressure. The area was lit quite well with torches surrounding both the circumference and the stalwart of a tree in the center of the refuge. Riolu and Chimecho easily made out a variety of friendly faces, at least most of which they considered to be this. They spotted one of the market's Kecleons, his purple brother nowhere to be seen. They saw Zubat and Koffing, though no Skuntank. Xatu and Chansey were seen working on pitching a tent of some sort. They recognized Team AWD's leader, Weavile. There were a few others from Treasure Town here as well, although both Chimecho's and Riolu's hearts nearly froze when they glanced at the center of the camp. At the base of the large tree was a gathering of very special characters.

Without giving Sora so much as a warning, the two rushed forth to greet their unlikely comrades! Sora followed quickly. On the other end, Bidoof and Sunflora replicated their actions, Cruce following just as quickly.

They arrived in unison, gathering as one with expressions of glee, nearly disbelief.

"Oh my gosh!" Sunflora started, joyous. She embraced Chimecho as soon as she could have, giggling with the utmost happiness. "You're okay! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, this is amazing!"

"Oh, thank goodness you're alright! All of you!" Chimecho responded, relieved to be in the arms of a caring guild member.

"Hey, hey, hey! What a coincidence! You all came at the same time, hey!" Corphish noted, glancing back and forth between the two groups.

"Ah, finally we found you guys..." Riolu approached Bidoof, lowering himself to one knee and patting his good friend on the head a couple times. "No more splitting up, alright?"

"Yep! Golly, this is... this is great, guys..." Bidoof nodded and sniffled a tad, his usual demeanor of becoming much too absorbed in a certain scenario showing once more. "It's making me mighty emotional here..."

"Yeah, Bidoof's DEFINITELY alright if he's sobbing up a storm!" Loudred commented, igniting a bit of laughter from the group of friends. Groyvle himself chuckled at their antics. It was a pleasant sight to see friends unite, especially since one of them was a very significant figure to him. Riolu.

"Riolu." Grovyle spoke over the cheerful bunch. He managed to siphon the attention of guild members and guild graduates alike. "All of you..." He included the rest of the apprentices of Wigglytuff, as if ready to present them with the dire news he seemed to promise earlier. "You have impeccable timing. Your appearances lead me to believe that many others who deserve to hear this explanation are still out there, so to speak."

"Grovyle, i-is that... Is th-that really you? Th-that Grovyle? From the future?" Riolu knew he was stammering, but the very thought of this was staggering. Here Grovyle stood before him. He knew it was the same one. He knew it was the very same Grovyle who he, at first, thought was a heinous thief. The very same Grovyle who he and Jovany escaped the clutches of the villainous Dusknoir with. The very same Grovyle who aided them on their quest to return the Time Gears to Temporal Tower. The very same Grovyle who sacrificed himself so that the future could brighten... could _exist_. So how did _he?_

"Hmhm, Riolu please. Compose yourself." Grovyle gave a cool, yet warm smile to the young Pokémon, a hand on the other's shoulder. "You and I have much we need to catch up on... But I fear the time to give you all my message is yet to come."

"Hey, hey. You're not going to tell us?" Corphish questioned, being one of the first to hear Grovyle's words of inevitable proclamation.

"It is... sophisticated." The grass-type admitted, his eyes closing. "It's not easy for me to say."

"Well, Mr. Grovyle." Chimecho spoke up. "We'd be more than happy to spread your words of warning to everyone."

"I appreciate the kind offer, but I'm afraid that will not come to pass." At this, he received a handful of incredulous looks... "From what I've seen thus far in this time, Pokémon have run off. They have been scattered. I aim to explain the situation in front of a large gathering. Even then, I am worried. None of you know just how delicate this scenario is."

"And _that_ looks like it'll pose a problem." Words from Vulpix's lips were finally heard as she looked back and forth at two very unlikely Pokémon facing each other aggressively at a reasonable distance from herself...

Sora didn't understand why, but his heart was racing. He was shaking with anticipation. This odd looking creature just _had_ to be some clever Heartless or Nobody in disguise. Judging by the tentacles, it was not a very legitimate excuse for a guise. Then again, an otherworldly aura told Sora that perhaps this Pokémon was unlike anyone or anything he had ever faced. Even still, his heart was practically commanding him to raise his Keyblade against this opponent. He did so, conjuring his Kingdom Key in an ethereal mist near his mouth before biting down on its hilt, ready to battle.

Cruce wasn't able to comprehend the feeling entirely, but it was as if his soul was afraid. It was a flight or fight response from deeper within. This tiny fox simply _must_ have been a Nightmare fooling all others through the use of illusion magic. He knew they had that ability... Thought maybe it was a being of honest emotion and integrity, due to the fierce glare it was giving Cruce. He could feel the light of emotion in this Pokémon, which should have doused his suspicions. Nevertheless, his spirit cried out to him...

The distant rainfall against the leaves of the canopy proclaimed the continuation of the storm...

"Stop it, you two!" Vulpix demanded, glancing and glaring at each of them. "I don't know what feud you have going with each other, but this is not the time to try and settle it!"

All eyes within the refuge were on them. Both of these Pokémon's qualities already diminished the idea of them being anywhere near orthodox.

"Excuse me." Grovyle spoke quietly, though his voice was clearly audible amidst the coming rain. "I know not of the quarrel between you two, but Vulpix is correct. Now is not the time." He was keen to both of their anomalous features: the Eevee's weapon and the Shaymin's tendrils. Just what were these Pokémon, aside from abnormal?

And just then, a solemn whisper descended upon Sora...

"Never forget..." These two words lacked a proper ending. Sora swore he heard his own mind complete the statement. "...those important to you..."

"Riku... Kairi..." He spoke these two names under his breath just after dropping his Keyblade to the pure, at the moment, grassy ground.

Vulpix blinked, her attention consumed by Sora's strange behavior...

...Darkness homed in on them in a split second.

Bit by bit, from one end of the Woodland Refuge poured in shadows and neoshadows alike. On the other end came a swarm of small imps, neon veins of green throughout their bodies. Heartless and Nightmares. Everyone in the refuge froze with disbelief. Their sanctuary was no longer a haven for anyone. Had they had the time, they would have dispersed a few scout parties to search the area for any foes. Alas, they did not... Neither did they make the first movement. Heartless and Nightmares alike simply watched as their hordes grew larger by the moment. Fearful as the Pokémon were, they shared the sensation that all dark eyes were piercing through them, reaching the opposing horde instead.

That was true.

As many of the Pokémon were more or less focused on working to the center of the Woodland Refuge, the shadows and imps swarmed around them, rather instigating a violent war amidst each other. A quick relief was spread across the refugees, despite them still being in grave danger.

"Wh-what's going on?" Someone shouted over the chaos of loud crashes, rainfall, and the booming thunder.

"We have to get out of here!" Riolu yelled, searching for any pathway through the bloodthirsty creatures of both legions.

"The Shaymin Village! To the East!" Bidoof hollered, barely audible to anyone who wasn't within ten feet of him.

"Won't they just follow us?" Loudred yelled, much more audible than Bidoof.

"We'll be ready, and they will be weakened! EVERYONE, STAY CLOSE!" Grovyle shouted, possibly louder than Riolu has ever heard him shout. Nods were given in his direction. Everyone understood . It was time to flee.

"This way! Push through! Do your best to stay with us!" Grovyle commanded, uncaring whether or not he was forced to plow through a blockade of Nightmares and Heartless. They did not breakthrough unscathed, however. Many of the dark beings shifted their attention should any Pokémon have come to close. This led Cruce and Sora to fend the threats off with each other, yet Sora could have sworn he was doing less than he desired. He noted how the Keyblade simply phased through the imps, whereas a basic tackle proved to be much more effective. Now was not the time to give it regard. Pokémon were already pouring back into the corrupt Apple Woods; a place that would be dubbed the Deadwood Pass in that very escape.

Indeed, during this escape, a couple of the nightmarish, monstrous trees were encountered. They maneuvered slowly, however, therefore making it easy to evade them. Nonetheless, they were an intimidating sight...

…

This retreat came not without difficulty. Many times, Pokémon became overwhelmed and lost in the dense, very dark forest. They were recovered, only to have their rescuers lose their way. After a half an hour of this struggle, the trail to the Shaymin Village, cut as a path between the trees, was located.

"W-we're out!" Chimecho exclaimed as she and a few of her unlikely allies reached to point beyond peril.

"Heh-heh-heh! Finally." One of the refugees, Zubat, chuckled. His demeanor dampened when he realized somebody was missing. "...Koffing? ...Uh-oh, where's Koffing?"

"...Where's everyone...?" Chimecho asked, looking in all directions. She new that the mysterious Sora was with her and Zubat. And next to Sora was Riolu. They had managed to stay together, so perhaps the others were in a separate group by now.

"Let's head to the village from here. I think the others will see us there." Riolu declared, a bit of leadership showing in him. This was a fresh look to Zubat. In the past, he had always referred to Riolu as a wimp, and was not too far from the truth in terms of valor and confidence. It was refreshing in a time like this to see that he had changed. He had to wonder, though, where that snake was. Jovany, was it? "Sora, you see any of those shadow Pokémon, they're all yours. That key is pretty amazing!" He commended.

He would have like to express his gratitude in some other way than grinning with a Keyblade in his mouth. That was all he could have done. He took initiative with his partner and led the other two on the path to safety...

…

The determined water-type tore through the ranks of darkness leaping at him in all directions. The forest had become an annoyance. The endless waves of shadows prevented him from advancing.

Futachi had to think of something quickly. He was a step away from being overrun... It was time to push through. He gazed ahead, a burning resolve to crush all in his immediate path. With a shell slicing through one more shadow, he payed no heed to the many pursuing him any longer. It was his turn to pursue.

…

As they reached the Shaymin Village, their hearts were more at ease. Within the lighter rain, Grovyle, a few guild apprentices, and other Pokémon were already assisting the Shaymin villagers, along with Wigglytuff, Chatot, and Lopunny. Sora walked forward, scanning the village for the Pokémon who bothered him to a level of nearly battling. He was not here. He hadn't even heard his name mentioned. The only thing he knew about this figure was the transcendent feeling he experienced within his heart and soul. It was as if he was not the one in control. Neither of them were... Riolu let out a sigh of relief as he spotted some of the other townsfolk here already. He did take note, however, that some were still missing... Chatot flew over, setting down in front of he, Chimeho and Zubat.

"Riolu! Chimecho!" Chatot acknowledged, his head turning to see Zubat as well. "Ah, and Zubat?"

"Uh, heh-heh. Hey Chatot... Long time no see." Zubat replied, a drop of sweat rolling down his face. If he had ever lacked confidence, it was now; a hellish storm and a violent, supernatural attack of demons from another world without his two partners around anymore was easily discouraging. And now he had to deal with Chatot.

"Right. Well," Chatot began, ignoring the presence of the Team Skull member. Team Skull had, at one point, joined Wigglytuff's Guild. He and the guildmaster were blind to many of their schemes, which mostly revolved around Team Crimsongleam. Karma struck inevitably, and Chatot learned of their shenanigans, which nearly came too late. "Good to see you're all in one piece. I see the rescue team we organized exceeded all of our expectations."

"Rescue team?" Riolu questioned, his arms now crossed.

"Yes! We sent out Bidoof and Sunflora, alongside one of the Shaymin here, to search for any refugees! We have succeeded!"

"Actually, Chatot, we had a lot of trouble at the refuge we came to..." Chimecho spoke out, the same words about to be spoken by Riolu.

"Oh?"

"Yes, we did. Those dark Pokémon swarmed again. I think we lost many refugees."

"Squawk! And you came back here with them in pursuit?" Chatot raised his wings to his head as if stressed beyond reasoning.

"Excuse me, but I have reason to believe we will manage this threat." Grovyle was heard from behind Chatot. The assistant knew he was here, but he was skeptical. He simply couldn't believe that this was the same Grovyle from the future. It was not possible. "In fact, I think we will be safe from them completely... I must have everyone's attention. I have something I must share."

Riolu's eyes widened at this statement. Grovyle was ready to share the news with everyone? Riolu couldn't anticipate whatever he had to say. With as many times as he had dealt with it, the elusive concept of time travel was becoming far too complicated to capture. Although, if Grovyle was back, did that not mean he had to prevent the planet's paralysis once more? Riolu felt nauseous. He pressed his paws against his chest. There was no way he could participate in Grovyle's new mission if it meant doing it alone... without Jovany...

Obligation was in order. Chatot requested that Lopunny, who appeared to be making amends with Weavile of AWD, aided him in gathering a large crowd before bringing them into the central hut.

…

"Everyone! May I have your attention?" Grovyle's voice sounded over the crowd's varied conversations. It was a moment of déjà vú for Riolu, as he dreaded to hear anything along the lines of a catastrophe. Regardless, his eyes were on Grovyle. His old friend... Jovany's old partner...

It hit him. Why had no one asked about Jovany? Did they even care?

Sora himself was still an observer of events, despite having participated in a few battles by now. No one gave him much attention, even as an outsider. He wasn't complaining. It revealed how much these Pokémon put their close companions first. Of course, he was considered a new friend to Riolu, but he was fairly certain Riolu was still emotionally scarred by his loss.

The room went silent.

"...Everyone, I know it'd be an understatement to call what you all went through a tragic experience." He began, standing beside Wigglytuff on the stage overlooking the Pokémon in the small, yet capacious room. Before he could speak again, Wigglytuff questioned him.

"Grovyle, you knew about the attack on Treasure Town?"

"I did." He nodded. "Word spread very quickly to the refuge I first found myself at... For now, I have to tell you all the reason I have returned from the future." He scanned the crowd to reassure himself that he had their undivided attention. He spoke again. "As you know, the heroes of Team Crimsongleam, Riolu and Jovany, prevented the planet's paralysis at Temporal Tower."

Upon mentioning Jovany, Riolu was once again on the verge of vomiting. Already, he disliked where this was headed. He was so consumed in paranoia and grief that he did not even hear the quiet cheers a few Pokémon had given him. Sora gave him an impressed look. He had no idea Riolu was a hero of this magnitude...

"Yes, we have them to thank for that. I myself returned to the future prematurely to make sure that their job went undisturbed. However, I remained alive in that dark world... Everybody did. My mission was not yet complete. I worked my way to Temporal Tower to make sure Dialga, in his primal state, did not do anything to disrupt Crimsongleam's heavy mission. I trust you all know who Dialga is, yes?" He received affirming nods from the crowd.

"Yes, we were told that Dialga transformed into an emotionless being due to the warped flow of time." Chatot confirmed, which provided enough reason for Grovyle to continue.

"Excellent. Darkness usurped Dialga's being. He became content, I suppose, with the mass paralysis, and wanted to maintain a frozen world. He would have done so by any means necessary, even if it included using the Passage of Time. This is what I used to come to the past. More times than a couple, actually."

"Passage of Time, golly..." Bidoof spoke. "This is making my head spin."

"It's a bit difficult to understand, and... it becomes even more so." Grovyle gave a look of regret, his eyes shifting to the ground. "After Dialga was hindered long enough in the future to allow completion of Crimsongleam's mission, my team and I... disappeared..."

Riolu knew that feeling. Not of disappearing, but of someone so close simply vanishing in a pale, golden luminescence, leaving him to travel across the ravaged Hidden Land... He was thankful enough that Jovany returned to him. He refused to even question it. All that mattered was that his friend was with him. Alive. Well. Did the same happen for Grovyle, then?

"But you returned, hey?" Corphish asked, receiving a look from the grass-type that gestured the words... "sort of".

"I was told that I and my teammates cannot disappear. We played a valuable role in this world... Dialga was there, but he was not the cause of our return. In fact, he was prone to disappear as well, but he did not. It was the cause of a greater power." Grovyle explained, this coming as a bit of a shock to Riolu. He wasn't fully positive, but he thought Dialga was the one who returned Jovany to him...

"Grovyle, you helped us while in the future...?" Riolu asked, showing gratitude through his sickness. "I wish I could have thanked you."

"Returning to see the world in motion was all I needed, my friend. As I watched the dawn, I felt victorious. Things returned to normal in the world. After our long, tiresome journey, we were, at last, triumphant."

Riolu knew that feeling also. After having placed the Time Gears into Temporal Tower's clock, he was blessed with a vision of the land's returning grace. He knew he was seeing this with Jovany, and that was the greatest feeling he ever had, so quickly to be followed by the worst.

"...It was foolish of me to think that was the end... Why else would such a great power preserve those who saved a world in the time to come? I, among others, soon believed that this mighty will did not exist, as but a year following the crisis of paralysis... it came yet again."

That received plenty of gasps and frightened murmurs. The same question was on everyone's mind. "How?", Followed by "Why?". Riolu threw up in his mouth, yet forced himself to swallow it back down. There was never a more appropriate moment that he wished he was deaf. He knew he had to hear this simply because it was important. It was his world. His home. Yet, now the level of difficulty of saving it has skyrocketed exponentially higher.

"It pains me to break this terrible news to you all." Grovyle shook his head, having expecting these reactions.

"I know it was Darkrai who caused it all: he sabotaged Temporal Tower. Wh-what led to time's collapse this time?" Riolu asked, a single paw over his chest.

"Darkrai? I have heard mention of that name." Grovyle admitted, prior to answering the other's question. "Yes, I have heard he was the one who instigated Temporal Tower's collapse. I doubt he is behind this, because this time..." Again, hesitation. The air was filled with a dreadful pessimism. "Our time, our space, our world... All three are hanging in the balance." Much to his expectations, many in the room were not sure what this meant. Truthfully, all they needed to know was that it was far worse than the planet's paralysis. 'Now, these three orders are endangered by three separate sources. Each of them are deadly. We have witnessed all three at the Woodland Refuge."

Sora and Vulpix found themselves staring at each other. Sora would have probably done this with Shaymin had he not vanished. That or glare at him, which would have happened almost entirely on its own. In any case, he was not sure why this girl caught his attention. The opposite was also true. She was not sure why he caught hers.

"I know little about the two forces which faced each other there. One of my newest acquaintances could tell you all something about one. The force I have faced call themselves Organization XIII." Grovyle explained, overlooking the entire crowd back and forth. Voices rose a little.

"Organization XIII...?" Sora said aloud. He recognized these words. What did they mean exactly?

"Yes. They call themselves Nobodies. And they..." He glanced for a moment at Sora before finishing the thought. "...are the cause of the second sabotage on Temporal Tower."

"W-wait a moment!" Chatot called out, fully in belief that this was the same Grovyle of the future, due to his vast knowledge of the situation and prepared way of presenting it. It was rare for Chatot to have believed stories like this. "Who exactly are these 'Nobody Thirteen' Pokémon?"

"...They aren't Pokémon at all. In fact, they appear to be humans." Grovyle clarified.

_Humans...?_ Riolu thought to himself, having enough of a temporary distraction from his nausea.

"I have been told they came here from 'darkness', to where they had been banished. They came from a different realm entirely, traveling through the broken space of our own world. But they were not able to break our fabric of space in order to travel through it. To do that, a being powerful enough from this world must have done so. Therefore, someone upon this world is in league with Organization XIII. I'm afraid I could not give you any details. It's too difficult for me to completely understand."

"Whoa, this is _all_ hard to understand." Sora admitted his knowledge about the situation. If he thought he was lost prior, now he had to be dreaming this up. He knew he was not dreaming in any case, but this transformation, these odd feelings and memory loss, and the Heartless were all so surreal to him.

Heartless... He remembered the name... He raised his head slightly to speak.

"After all we did..." Sora heard Riolu's voice over his. Another comment of Riolu's was directed at him. "A-and there's still you, Sora. And your blade. And the ocean! Why are the water levels so high like you all say?" Riolu focused on Grovyle as he asked these questions. Grovyle noticed his questions, yet did not seem to take them into full consideration as his attention was absorbed by Sora and Vulpix.

"Anything you see that is irregular could be linked to the Nobodies. Now, your ability... 'Sora' …to conjure this key-shaped weapon is curious. And you, Vulpix. \The water-type Nobody tried to kidnap you. Why is this?"

"I don't know, he just snatched me right up!" Vulpix stated truthfully, looking shyly around the room as if she did not want this kind of attention. A sudden epiphany dawned on her. She looked to Sora, an inquisitive expression on her face. "Key-shaped weapon?"

"Yes." Grovyle nodded and continued to speak among the quieter murmurs. "I have never seen such a thing. All I know of is the cross-shaped weapon that my newest acquaintance wields. He appeared around the time the Nobodies had. He and... others..." He looked off to the side, estranged by the appearances of these "others".

...There was silence... Not a soul in the room knew what to do, say, or think. Was their world doomed? Not all hope was lost to the fullest extent, yet that point was not too far.

"...Riolu..." Grovyle mentioned the young explorer's name.

"Y-yes?" Riolu responded attentively, straightening out as if answering a superior's call.

"Where is Jovany...?"

...Again, silence. Every Pokémon was staring at Riolu... Thunder clapped in the skies...

That was it, and Chimecho and Sora knew it as they turned away from Riolu before anyone else had a chance to. He shoved his way to the exit and stormed out of the hut, on the verge of tears once again, which he broke into upon walking into the falling rain once again. As he dropped to his paws and knees in the swampy grass, the shaken Shaymin glanced at him. He heard his name called plenty times from within the hut. Riolu ignored the calls. In his teary breakdown, he payed no attention to the Shaymin approaching. They were not the only ones. Sora, Grovyle, and Vulpix came from the hut, calling Riolu's name. He stood up abruptly.

Riolu cried out, turning away and sprinting for the Sky Peak explorer's trail.

"Wait!" One of the Shaymin called over the others' calls. It raised a paw, still yelling out to Riolu. "The Peak is infested with shadows! You'll be torn to pieces on your own!"

"He's not on his own. He needs to know he has us." Grovyle spoke, managing to keep his cool. "Come on, you two. Help me talk some sense into him." Without a moment to spare, he leaped forward, giving chase after the emotionally stricken Pokémon. Following a quick nod to one another, Vulpix and Sora followed. Sure enough, the members of Wigglytuff's Guild rushed out of the building and gave no moment's thought to pursuing Riolu up what one Shaymin had called the Shadow Summit.

If this many Pokémon of the guild giving chase to Riolu was not enough, one more arrived, black scratches lining his body and almost blending in with his tattoos. This black blood dripped from his arm, dampened further by the rain, or perhaps his own water-type moves. Aware of the guild members ahead, he broke into a sprint after them.

Futachi dared the Shaymin to stop him.


	10. Defiance

**_Chapter 9: __Defiance _**

**_Note: _**_I think this chapter is a little dull. It's still building up. I'm planning to start the main adventure next chapter, but it looks like things are slowing down around here because of school and other things. School's right around the corner for me. I'll probably just be a little slower, but I'm going the whole way on this story, even if I'm a little slow. I'm not sure if chapter 10 will be uploaded to the site before chapter 1 of **Liquid Starlight**, but I guess we'll see how it goes. I have a lot of preparation-for-school-esque stuff to do, so that's why I've been all slow and what not. Anyway, enjoy the nonsense~!_**_  
><em>**

**_Disclaimer:_**_ I don't claim possession over characters originating from the franchises of Square Enix, Disney, Game Freak, and The Pokémon Company, Chun Soft, or Nintendo._**_ They belong to their rightful owners. _**_Few characters are original._

* * *

><p>The crying clouds continued to wail a thunderous tantrum. Though the teardrops eased their impact on the land.<p>

Scaling Sky Peak, or rather the newly nicknamed Shadow Summit, was a fatiguing task Riolu brought upon himself foolishly. He was in nary a condition to be battling with the nonstop hordes of Heartless shadows. Infuriated at their being, he struggled to sweep every last one of them aside, although he knew it was impossible. He recalled the time he climbed Sky Peak with Jovany and one of the Shaymin from the village. It was far simpler than this horror scene...

Riolu shook his head and whimpered, his paws clenching his head in a futile attempt to stop thinking too hard about Jovany. That brought him to this area in the first place. He wanted to isolate himself in a prison of darkness until he knew Jovany was home safe. Upon sprinting across the slick ground, he stumbled forward, a mouthful of mud as the result, not to mention a scraped palm and knee. He had already been battered and bloodied by the many brawls with the Heartless. Wincing at the multiple stings occurring over his entire body every split second, he soon realized he was losing consciousness. How long had it been since the invasion on Treasure Town? Had the day already gone by? Was it night? It must have been. Riolu took solace in that. Time was still flowing... At least the world had not yet lost time. On the brink of agonizing somnolence, Riolu crawled forward, staining the grassy ground with a bit of his drenched blood. It merged with the black liquid Heartless seemed to produce on the bodies they scarred... It did not take long for the ruined Pokémon to understand something...

He had reached the summit.

And staring into the vastness that was his world gave him little hope for a bright future. It was a sight that drenched his faith in the survival of his planet. It was a view that caused his heart and soul to sink to a point beyond repair. He had reached the edge of a broken world... Large masses of land floated, strewn across the ocean of a black, starry spatial chaos. Riolu saw the sea; how it had risen high to what he guessed was the sporadic shift in gravity, as the chunks of natural land appeared to have miniature oceans... His heart had skipped a few beats. His body demanded that he shut down immediately and simply let the edge of this world be his graveyard... …

...Darkness...

"Riolu!"

...Light...

Riolu's eyes shot open at the sound of the voice. Even this mere action caused his head to pound. He had taken severe damage, and his condition was worsening by the second.

"Riolu!" A second voice sounded. It was Sora's. The first was Grovyle's. These two, followed closely by Vulpix, came close to Riolu. Grovyle lifted the poor Pokémon in his leafy arms, staring down at him closely.

"He is breathing. He will be fine given plenty of immediate care." Grovyle stated, hiding his own doubts about Riolu. Grovyle did not know enough about the shadow Pokémon to truly assess the way or extent they damaged others.

"I-I'm... I'm fine. I just... had to..." Riolu spoke, his voice breaking and stammering.

"Had to what?" Vulpix cried out, stepping forward once. "You scared everyone! Don't go running off into places like this alone if you know what's good for you! We know this is a tough time... that's gives us more of a reason to stay together!"

"Kairi's right. As far as I know, we're a team, Riolu. I'd hate to see anything happen to such a hero." Sora explained to the beaten Pokémon. He received a very puzzled look from Vulpix soon afterwords...

"Excuse me?" She asked, her fore paw raised. "Kairi...?"

"I'm sorry, it's just..." Sora blushed, staring down at the soggy grass. "You remind me of someone I think I once knew. Sorry, Vulpix."

"Well." Vulpix giggled a tad, shaking her head casually. "It's okay. Let's head back to the refuge."

"Right." Grovyle spoke, lifting himself to his feet, as he gazed out into the open space, his muscles froze. He almost dropped Riolu at this bewilderment. "What...?" He questioned simply. No words could have ever expressed his feelings of this matter. The past of his own world lay broken, outstretched in vast space before him...

Sora stepped forth to view this for himself, Vulpix doing the same. Though this world did not belong to the Eevee, it wounded his heart to see this breathtaking, horrendous apocalypse... ...Why...?

And then the guild arrived.

They flocked the scene, immediately making way for Wigglytuff and Chatot behind them, each of them hollering out the name of their close comrade Riolu.

"Oh you guys made it! Please tell me he's alright!" Wigglytuff approached Grovyle eagerly, too worried for Riolu to notice the distortion ahead.

"...He will be fine..." Grovyle repeated hesitantly, awestruck. Not even in the future had he laid his eyes upon this horror. Was time really important now? Was it more necessary to focus on the other aspects of his world? He shook his head, eyes closed. He simply had to stay true to his world to Celebi, and to all the Pokémon of the future. He was going to fix this, or, naturally, die trying. Grovyle returned his attention to Wigglytuff. "We must return!"

"Hang on... Grovyle..." Riolu spoke weakly in his grass-type friend's arms. He looked out at the many guild members around he, Sora, Vulpix, and Grovyle. "...You all... came for... just for me...?"

"Of course!" Chatot squawked. "You are valuable to us all as a friend and a fellow explorer. You know that, Riolu! But, my word, if you ever do something this reckless again, I'll-"

"HEY!" Loudred interrupted. "He's hurt enough as it is, Chatot. Let's not make it WORSE, am I right?"

"Yup yup, by golly. Oof, Riolu, Chatot's got a point though. Don't go doing anything you'll regret." Bidoof suggested.

"Riolu, listen." Chimecho started, hovering closer. "I know you're going through a hard time because of Jovany's disappearance, but if I know Jovany, he won't let himself vanish that easily!"

"Oh my gosh, that is so true!" Sunflora agreed. "Jovany's one tough Pokémon. All of us know that!"

"Hey, hey, c'mon! Times are tough, but..." Corphish paused, looking around himself at his fellows. "Here we all are, hey! It's not like we're going to be put down so easily, especially after what we've all been through as a guild!"

"Everyone..." Riolu mumbled, tears forming in his eyes. These were tears of both happiness and despair. He knew his world was literally crumbling to pieces, yet the spirit of hope lived on. It struck Riolu that this spirit would forever live on, even if the life that was his was to be extinguished in darkness. His soul would fly free, and it would stay close to theirs, regardless of peril. Regardless of hatred. Regardless of anguish. Regardless of darkness and light.

"You have some really awesome friends, Riolu." Sora's voice attracted the attention of those nearby. "Don't let all that come crashing down here. I... I'll help you find your friend. After all, I have to look for mine. We can do this, Riolu. Together. All of us..." A genuine smile crossed Sora's lips. From the corner of his eye, he saw Chatot hopping forth...

"Th-thank you..." Riolu sniffled. "I'll never understand why I constantly lose myself, but I don't have to when I _know_ I have the best friends around."

"So there we have it!" Wigglytuff raised both arms high into the air—at least as high as he could—and hopped a tad. "We're all in this together!" The guild members gave a rejuvenating cheer that lifted Grovyle's spirits. He almost envied the friends that Riolu and Jovany had made in this time, but he was willing to stray from them to keep their world safe. That was his purpose... ...The only ones whom a cheer was not heard from were Chatot... and Futachi. Thunder shook the skies... The guild members froze... Oblivious to the thunder, Chatot stared out into the fragmented world. He was terrified, yet astonished. The stars, the distance, the vastness... This was space...

_Could we fix this? Could we... explore this...?_

"It's Futachi! Futachi made it too!" One of the guild members called out. At this outburst, all eyes, including Chatot's, shifted to the battle-scarred water-type... His response was far eerier than what was expected. Even then, no one expected a casual response from him. Loudred scoffed at Futachi, crossing his arms and looking away. It was no secret that he didn't believe Futachi was guild material. He did not doubt his abilities in the slightest, though he knew there were some Pokémon that Wigglytuff or Chatot simply could not subdue. With his head hanging low, Futachi glared forth at each Pokémon in his path, drenched in liquid blackness. After a few moments of silence and having ignited confusion, he pointed an arm forward, still wielding his shells.

"Eevee!" He shouted. "Notib... face me!" This came to everyone's surprise. None hesitated to question Futachi's request for battle... It was rare Futachi ever spoke the words "me" or "I". He was so adjusted to speaking in third person.

"Futachi? What are you saying, hey?" Corphish began, feeling it necessary, as a fellow water-type, to speak up. "Sora's on our side!"

"This is true, and you know it! You saw how he helped us in Treasure Town!" Chimecho clarified, though unable to do the impossible: sway Futachi's intentions.

"Futachi is doing what must be done!" He shouted again, growing impatient. "If you knew, you'd all think same way!"

In spite of the incorrect nature of this scene, Sora stepped forth.

"Futachi? What's gotten into you?" Sora inquired, not exactly prepared to do battle with a member of the guild.

"Quiet!" Futachi snapped, causing Sora's ears to splay quickly. "You and your blade are cause of all this! Futachi knows... Is too late for laments! You will pay!" Gasps of shock accompanied Futachi's next maneuver. He hurled a shell forward at Sora, the weapon capturing a sort of aquatic aura and gleaming blue as it sliced through the rain.

Lightning blinded all eyes.

"YOOM-TAH!" …

…

Before the defenseless Sora stood a valiant Wigglytuff, holding one of Futachi's shells up; obviously the tossed of the two. Sora raised his head, eyes open and assured safety behind the guildmaster, who was smiling as if nothing had just happened. In truth, to Wigglytuff, it was not much. Futachi straightened his back, having been lowered in his casual stance for battle.

"That's not what friends do to one another! " The guildmaster simply said. "Sorry Futachi, but you need to learn a lesson or two about trust!"

"He's done it now..." Loudred whispered, a hand blocking the sound traveling too far from his mouth, as rare as the need for this was, and leaning closer to Corphish nearby.

"Hey, hey. I'll say." Corphish agreed.

"Wigglytuff...?" Sora whispered, though audibly enough for Wigglytuff to hear.

"You not heed words of Futachi, Wigglytuff?" Futachi remarked, disrespecting his own guildmaster by not addressing him appropriately. "You stand in Futachi's way then... All of you..." An ominous glare forward accompanied this comment.

"Y-you so much as lay a finger on the Guildmaster or any of the apprentices, so help me, I will have you expelled right here and now!" Chatot, infuriated at this behavior, raised his voice.

"Don't worry Chatot." The capable guildmaster began, dropping Futachi's shell to the ground. "I'll administer his punishment for trying to hurt our friend, and even threatening his own guildmaster! How naughty! I want all of you to return to the village and make sure everyone is doing dandy!"

"Yes, Guildmaster! Exercise due care!" Chatot knew that Wigglytuff was a powerful Pokémon behind the childish demeanor, though he also knew Futachi was a fearsome opponent.

"Are you sure you don't need our help?" Grovyle offered, figuring the battle may be difficult, but at least simplified due to his type advantage over Futachi.

"I'm sure! Now go and be careful on your way down!" With this last command, the guild members fled the scene, no questions asked. Sora watched the brave guildmaster as he faced off with the vicious Futachi. Vulpix called his name... He was gone.

…

"C'mon, c'mon! We don't have all day!" Came a hasty, masculine voice. This man was concealed in a cloak of shadow.

"Oh, would you be patient? _You_ know where he went." Came the feminine, slightly English accented voice. She appeared to speak in rhymes at most times, also cloaked in the coat.

"I know it's hard getting there, but we should'a been there a while ago, the three of us!" The impatient man spoke again.

"Gee, guys." Came the high-pitched male voice. His cloaked was modified to fit his unique physique. "Are you sure about this? Now I'm not one to doubt, but this is a little bit risky for a corridor."

"Why, are you being so unwise as to judge me by size? Become one to note my capability, and you'll find a lack of fragility!" The rather tiny, yet well-aged female rhymed once again. "Through thick and thin and the powers of darkness, let's go forth and fix this mess!"

"Here we go..." The tall figure spoke. The moment had come. The three had to leave this place in search for what could have been a very deadly foe... or friend.

They departed in a massive, swirling vortex of blackness, only able to do so quite literally because of the clothes on their backs.

…

"Riolu..." Sora approached his injured friend, now resting easy in a cushioned pile of hay. Already, he had been bandaged accordingly. "Are you doing alright?"

"Don't worry, I'm fine." Riolu assured, turning his head to smile at the Eevee staring down, for a change, at him. The lacerations littering his body were guarded firmly by the cotton bandages, though an small yet unsightly amount of blood gave the material a dark red hue. A fair amount of it was used simply for him: around his head, torso, left leg, right arm twice, and both of his paws, though obscuring the left more than the right. "I promise..."

"...Alright." Sora nodded, his eyes shifting across Riolu's wounded body. There were many minor lacerations that were missed, though they were negligible to a fight-type. Sora's teeth gritted together a tad as he noted the black coloration of some of the gashes. "I'm sorry the Heartless gave you such a hard time."

Sunflora, carrying a small straw basket filled with assorted fruits of various colors, stopped in her tracks as she heard the mentioning of "Heartless". Perhaps this was the sensation of a powerful empathy emanating from the nearby Grovyle. Both were grass-types, after all.

"Excuse me." Grovyle started before Sunflora spoke. She simply went about her business, reaching into the basket and setting down a small blue berry near Riolu. "Heartless? Sora, am I correct?" He received a brief nod from the other. "I have neglected to ask... Who exactly are you? Why did that Pokémon attack you on the peak?"

"Futachi? I don't know. He said that I'm the cause of this..." With his head hanging low, he summoned the all-familiar Keyblade at his paws once again, stepping over it for the third time and sighing. "I don't remember who I was. I remember I was a human... I remember my friends, Riku and Kairi. And I remember the Keyblade and the Heartless, but that's all." He returned his eyes to Grovyle, a look defining a cry for assistance upon his face.

"A human? Transformed into a Pokémon?" Grovyle stood up straight and rubbed at his chin. "Curious!"

"Grovyle, if you know anything about the reason I'm here, please, I..." The Eevee paused, his tail against the soft ground. "I don't think I'm the bad guy! I need to know what it is that brought me here!"

...There was silence... Riolu spoke up.

"Sora... Don't listen to Futachi. He's a strange Pokémon who doesn't get along with anyone very well..." Riolu turned to his side, searching for the oran berry which Sunflora had placed on his bed. As his paws felt its roundness, he continued speaking. "Besides, you said you didn't need to know anything to help out, right?" ...A lack of a response from Sora ensued in further comfort from Grovyle.

"Unfortunately, I do not know about your past, Sora. I apologize for that, but Riolu is correct. Your abilities are beyond natural, thus they will be a great deal of assistance to us. That is..." The mysterious hero lowered his arm to his hip. "If you're willing to help us. No one is forcing you."

"I have to help." Sora did not wait to reply. "I have a role to play here. I'd like to understand more of what's going on, but the only way I can do that is if I get involved enough to make a difference. Maybe then, Riku and Kairi... will come back... Maybe I'll see them again." As if by instinct, Sora's focus slowly began shifting to the Vulpix. At the moment, she was speaking with Chimecho.

"You're friends must mean a lot to you... You have a good heart. I know you will find them." Grovyle approached the small normal-type, observing the Kingdom Key more closely. "If the pattern of these 'blades' I've noticed is correct, you are much like the wielder of the Crossblade: a powerful warrior."

Sora was flattered, albeit unnerved. A tingling chill ran down his small spine, triggering a shudder. This went unnoticed by Grovyle or the resting Riolu, who had finished his berry. He watched Grovyle and Sora converse with anticipation.

"I suppose I will find him. After all, I must be leaving soon."

"What?" Riolu's voice was heard, although broken and weak. "You have to leave so soon?"

"I must be off to gather the Time Gears once again. I'm sorry, but I-"

"I'm coming...! I'm coming with you, Grovyle!" Riolu interrupted, forcing himself to sit up. The grass-type reacted quickly, hands grasping the other's shoulders gently and setting him back down on the bed of hay.

"No, not in your condition..." Grovyle spoke reluctantly. "Even if you were at your best, there's no telling what could happen."

"B-but.. I..." Riolu stammered, seeing that Grovyle made a clear point. It was true that this would have been a much different experience than the last: gathering the Time Gears while the planet was not in fragments as it was now. There were a myriad of things Grovyle would have to had considered deeply already to do this alone, if it was not impossible. "Grovyle, I have to come with you! Those... Heartless Pokémon stole Jovany away from me!"

"...They are the ones behind that?" Contemplating his options, Grovyle looked away, sighing discontentedly at the news of this.

"Take me with you, Grovyle. Please." Expecting something of the same response Grovyle gave Riolu, Sora pleaded, both fore paws now on his Keyblade.

"Perhaps..." Grovyle glanced at the mysterious weapon under Sora once more before raising his head to the two. "I'll be taking both of you with me."

"Really?" Riolu sat up again. "You'll let us come?"

"We will be leaving early tomorrow. I will see if I can get you some more oran berries. "

"If you can, I'll be feeling perfect tomorrow! Thank you, Grovyle!" Riolu grinned, ignoring any amount of pain he was feeling at the moment. That amount was not significant in any case.

"I trust you and Sora will be prepared then. I'll admit, I'm intrigued with your story. I hope you will see your friends again soon... It seems we all have someone to look for."

"It really does. I'll do my best tomorrow..." Upon speaking, Sora understood that he would be leaving the safety of the refuge. We would be leaving the guild members, the worried townsfolk, and Vulpix... Why Vulpix had reminded him of Kairi is something he could not quite have comprehended. Perhaps she, too, suffered memory loss and transformed into a Pokémon. Then why did she fail to remember her true name while Sora knew his? Perhaps Vulpix was her true name. Maybe this was not Kairi at all. It was impossible to tell, despite being given a large quantity of possible signs. At this moment, Sora noticed that Grovyle was watching her as well. It was astonishing how she had not noticed the two boys staring at her, which she might have dismissed as a creepy type of admiration.

"You should rest up. I cannot fully predict what is in store for us tomorrow, but I can tell you it will be beyond dangerous." Grovyle's soft voice was heard. The Eevee turned, greeted by eyes of gold.

"Yes, sir." Sora nodded, showing a great deal of respect for the Pokémon who, essentially, offered to save the world. Again.

At the time, there was a slight lack of space for the many refugees in the building. Despite the initial lack of comfort in sleeping so close to one another, the many Pokémon made due. It proved not to be a terrible experience in any case, though some found it difficult to sleep at the thought of Wigglytuff in trouble. That was certainly not like him. It was difficult enough to believe it was taking the guild master this much time to go about his business. Many assumed he was having trouble with the mountain itself, because there was absolutely no way he could have lost the battle to Futachi...

…

Thunder...

Raindrops...

"Sorry, Futachi! I hope this will teach you to be a good apprentice."

"Wigglytuff... L-...Listen to Futachi... Agh-..."

"Oh, boo... You still don't trust our friend Sora?"

"Sora is... reason our world is broken. Futachi saw... saw your face when you looked at Sora. You knew world would be in danger. Futachi knows. Chillarmy, Jovany... and others t-taken by dark creatures."

"What? That's impossible! I know they're safe in another refuge."

"Wigglytuff... is hard to accept. Not... even you can know how dark shadows from other world work. Is much... different. Is all cause of Sora. They from the notib's world. He and his weapon cause of all. Trust Futachi, Wigglytuff... G-Guildmaster Wigglytuff..."

"Hmm... Alright then. You and I will go talk to Sora tomorrow. He and the others might be asleep by now. Can you stand?"

"...Yes. Futachi seen worse injury."

"Let's head back then. Watch your step!"

…


	11. Whiteout: The Crossblade Cataclysm

_**Chapter 10: Whiteout: The Crossblade Cataclysm**_

_**Note:** The single longest chapter of Crossblade so far. Finally, it's here! After a month of work... Mostly schoolwork. My life's been the Indian Jones ride for the past few weeks. Moving to a new house, starting homeschool, so many things. I've been a busy boy. I apologize for that_... _So, aside from that, yeah. Long part. And it is a **LOT** to take in. There're like three things that seem like they -happen- in this part, but don't. BECAUSE I'M CRAZY. Not really. Just fickle._

_**Note 2: **Characters from other Final Fantasy games are scheduled to join the nonsense. I can do that because it's Kingdom Hearts~. Which leads me to the next thing in bold.  
><em>

**_Disclaimer:_**_ I don't claim possession over characters originating from the franchises of Square Enix, Disney, Game Freak, and The Pokémon Company, Chun Soft, or Nintendo._**_ They belong to their rightful owners. _**_Few characters are original._

* * *

><p>…<p>

A vision...

…

Sora stared blankly into unfading darkness. Slowly, his senses bled back into him. It took but a few seconds for him to understand his stance; that is, he was standing on two feet. A rapid take in both directions came before distress. Alone, he stood upon a decorated glass pillar, much like the last he had seen in his Dive to the Heart. The gear shape had puzzled him once more. Although, he possessed more of a lead to figuring this gear out. Perhaps it was... …

Sora, indeed human for the time being, witnessed a beacon of light begin to take form on the other side of the pillar. It spliced into two separate lights, both shaping into humanoids of different sorts; one female and the other male... The female's her was a sort of sunless blond, her short white dress torn very slightly. The male's hair was spiked in a fashion much like Sora's, though distinct in its own way. The style of his attire also showed some parallelism to Sora, though colored differently. Other features were clear as daylight, though it was hardly believable that this was occurring. Who were these two...? Sora was unable to recall.

He had known them in his life. It was the only viable conclusion he could make that led to them existing here: his dream.

"I've been doing what I can." The female spoke, her voice quite serene. "Be brave. Your memory will return to you in time... Find your friends, and deliver them from this world."

Sora did not speak. He remained stunned at the idea that this girl was repairing his memory. It was obvious that it was a daunting task, yet she had managed to return to him the memories of his most precious friends... He knew in his heart that there were a million more memories to come.

"Thank Naminé." The male spoke, a grin of sincerity on his face.

"Hmhm." The girl called Naminé chuckled. "Do your best not to come into contact with the C-" Her voice, along with everything else surrounding her, "glitched" out of existence in a dream scape whiteout.

…

The night succumbed to the day, but its dark atmosphere remained. The infinite shade of the deep clouds ran eternal across the world. Their tears subsided for the time being. All eyes were shut in the tranquility of sleep. All but Grovyle's. Having placed a note securely near the resting place of Wigglytuff, who had returned alongside Futachi, he approached the sleeping allies Sora and Riolu. He cautioned himself not to disturb any of the sleeping Pokémon as he made his way over. It was successfully done. Grovyle nudged at each of his partner Pokémon.

"It's time." He whispered, receiving different responses from each of the two. Riolu sat up a few seconds afterward, very familiar with the habit of waking up early, not to mention _being _awakened early. He rolled his fists against his eyes, feeling empowered with the resolve to strive on. Sora rolled to the opposite side, his ears back as he gave the gesture of "five more minutes". Prior to yawning, Riolu noticed what Grovyle failed to—he was tending to an explorer's bag strapped across his shoulder—and poked at Sora's chest.

"Sora. We have to go." Riolu spoke, followed by a second yawn with a bit of his voice attached. Vulpix's ears flickered twice, her tails raising as she witnessed, though blurry, the sight of these three Pokémon. She buried her face in her paws, rubbing at her eyes before lifting her head to attempt to visualize this clearly...

Grovyle's intentions were to beat the storm, thus the three were outside within a moment's notice. As was Futachi, once more against a wall with his head down and arms crossed.

"Futachi..." Sora mentioned the Pokémon's name, met with a glint of sheer power. Grovyle and Riolu faced in the water-type's direction.

"So you're awake." Grovyle spoke, not caught on the positive side of this apprentice after seeing exactly how his attitude merited the unbiased assault on allies.

"Yes. Eevee, you get off lucky. Wigglytuff is kind of heart. Allow Futachi to investigate... Futachi will not fight you now. But if he find any lead that you terrible cause... Will meet fate early." With a grunt, Futachi concluded this sobering explanation.

Grovyle paid little attention to this. He familiarized himself with the fierceness in Futachi's eyes, though he was assured that his experience could topple Futachi's with ease, in part of his being a grass-type. His eyes shifted to the left of Futachi; the entrance of the village's last building. From it came a sleepy Vulpix.

"Vulpix..." Sora's mentioning of her name came prior to Grovyle's. To this, the seemingly worried vixen approached an equally drowsy Sora. She placed a paw on one of his, smiling wide.

"Sora, we may have only known each other for a short time, but I want you to be very careful out there... okay? Promise to return to us in one piece."

"I will, I promise, Vulpix." Sora paused, his focus dropping to the girl's paw atop his. His cheeks revealed a hint of pink. "We'll see each other again soon, Kairi." Sora slipped verbally yet again, failing to remedy this pestering similarity between the two girls... Why did he continuously do this? What was so critical of this Vulpix person which poked at his memory of Kairi? ...Who was Kairi as a human? The Eevee, beginning to doubt whether or not he truly had a past as a human, recalled two basic facts about Riku and Kairi: they existed, and they were his close friends.

"Uh, hello?" Vulpix questioned the other fox Pokémon, her head tilted and lips forming a playful smirk. "Wake up, sleepyhead. You called me 'Kye-ree' again. I'm Vulpix, you silly thing."

"O-oh." Sora regained perfect consciousness simply by blinking a couple times. "Right, I zoned out again."

"You won't want to do that on your big journey! Now go out there and strut your stuff, you three!" Vulpix exclaimed, allowing her spirit to bolster that of the three adventurers'. They were seen off by Futachi and Vulpix, though not quite literally. Futachi had long since dismissed his attention from who he would consider to be reckless; an ironic thought for an iconic Pokémon.

…

The second ascent of Shadow Summit feigned difficulty, though happened to be simplistic, as the lack of hostile Pokémon made differences clearer than day. Although, the mountain appeared more awe-inspiring and humbling during that kind of clear day. The previously mentioned "hellions" which replaced the hostiles consisted highly of the Heartless shadows and bit snipers. Rarely were any other varieties of purebloods seen.

The two natural-born explorers handled navigating the mountain while Sora dealt with the brunt of the Heartless, as he was the most capable. They crossed a threshold of height regarding the point of rainfall, as the shift in weather occurred in the blink of an eye. At this point, however, they were already in close range of the summit. By now, Riolu's mind raced with questions...

"Grovyle!" The blue Pokémon called out, forearm against his forehead wiping a few drops of sweat and rain. "What are our plans once we reach the summit?" He found that the answer arrived later than expected. Grovyle hesitated to reply until the summit was but a brief stretch away.

"I have enlisted the aid of one of the kind local Shaymin! He has agreed to fly us to the other masses of land." The grass-type explained, igniting disbelief in the other two effective immediately.

"The Shaymin can do that?" Sora started. "They're awfully small. Can they carry all of us?"

"Certainly. They are small, of course. But they are powerful Pokémon. Through the use of the Gracidea flower, they change into a state known as sky forme. It enables flight, though not through the use of wings. Shaymin are among the most mysterious of Pokémon. The one we will be working with is... unique, I would say. He reminds me of a friend of mine from the future." As Grovyle's explanation came to a conclusion, so did the scaling of the darkened Sky Peak. The three moved forward, a sky-converted Shaymin awaiting them at the ridge of the summit. Its appearance was rather ominous in the rainfall, though, as stated, its size was none too impressive. The variations on this Shaymin, presenting itself in its sky forme, were quite intriguing. Its eyes, though unseen at the time, were deep blue. At both of its sides were eerie dot-shaped scars arranged in a triangular formation. (They appeared similar to Chillarmy's tattoos, though spaced out a tad more.)

Sora's fur stood on edge. A chill crept down his spine yet again. Everything in his mind, soul, heart, and body favored a savage offense against this Shaymin. It was necessary to be honest with oneself in this scenario. Sora had felt this way before. It was at the Woodland Refuge. A Shaymin with tendrils curving to the tree's leaves stood with a frightening valor, more than willing to face him. This was the same Pokémon. And this time, Vulpix was not present to prevent Sora's volatile instinct from triggering a battle. He stood low, his Keyblade shimmering into existence within his mouth. Grovle and Riolu took note of the noise it caused and faced the Eevee with unrest.

"Sora? What are you doing?" Riolu was first to object to Sora's behavior.

Time decelerated as the Shaymin began to face the other direction. For every second, which came to Sora as about three, a pulsing heartbeat was both heard and felt. What seemed like nine seconds was, in actuality, three. Regardless, the Shaymin's expression was rather grim.

"There you are." He spoke, contrasting his soul-piercing glare. His lips formed a smirk as he identified the Eevee. "So that's why I felt the urge to break something. No sooner is the universe flat out _giving_ me something to break." He stated, affirming to Sora that he shared the illogical feelings of hostility.

"You two are at it again?" Grovyle exclaimed, now in awareness of the dilemma. "Sora, your memory is in need of repair! Yet you remember this Shaymin in enough detail to wield that Keyblade against him?"

"Keyblade...?" Shaymin questioned, his head high but his eyes focused down on the Eevee. "You're telling me there's another blade out there?"

"Yes?" Grovyle spun around, anticipating what the mysterious Pokémon might have known. "Do you perhaps know of the Crossblade?"

"You're right. Why do I know about it? Well, I own it." ...

"_Cruce!_" Grovyle suddenly called out, the Shaymin's response nearly causing him to fall off of the peak.

Before Cruce was able to respond, a voice reverberated on the storm's disorderly winds. It belonged to a female.

"Ohohohoho! Finally, there you are! What else have you to mar?" There was no physical origin of this voice. It manifested as a spiritual echo. In spite of this, a spherical void of purple transmogrified the air betwixt Sora and Cruce. It pulsed outward, then inward in about a second, a small humanoid figure already walking from it. By now, the portal had vanished, and this tiny female—she was no taller than Riolu—had stopped before Cruce, one hand on her hip and the other pointing at the Shaymin. "I don't care how cute you may be, you and your antics, unfortunately, are coming with me." She declared sternly. Although she was wearing the black cloak, her hood was lowered, revealing her blond hair, which was styled into short pigtails. Her facial features replicated a human's, with the exception of her dark brown nose.

"H-how does EVERYONE suddenly have to do with me?" Cruce staggered, unable to keep up with the rapidly occurring events. "Who are you?"

"And why are you wearing the Organization's coat?" Grovyle added.

"Professor Shantotto to you. Now, I say, shoo! These are not your affairs." She answered quite curtly.

"I assure you Cruce is very much my business as, for some reason, he is yours." Grovyle turned his attention to Sora. "As he also seems to be the wielder of the Keyblade's."

"Keyblade? That Sora boy I've heard about is here?" Shantotto turned in both directions twice, looking over her arms each second glance. "All I see are animals, I fear."

"Well, he's holding the Keyblade right now! It's this Eevee right here!" Riolu clarified, simply playing along with these events.

"Mm?" The professor finally noticed the small fox holding a key-shaped weapon in his mouth. "Ohohoho!" She laughed, a small hand over her mouth. "Oh, just look at you two. He says your 'Eevee'; I say 'Who'? I'd love to stay under the rain and chat, but not really. Cruce, it's time we return to the others, you see." As quickly as she appeared to the four, she walked in a tad of a waddle fashion to the Shaymin, who, despite Shantotto's size, was far smaller than she. In addition, she motioned with both hands whilst locating a proper return point for her supposed spell. "I have a place in mind."

"Wait! You can't take him!" Riolu's called out. "He's our only way to the Time Gears! We need his help!"

His help? Riolu's words echoed throughout Sora's battle-driven mind. Riolu was correct. The three of them required Cruce to get anywhere, and Sora's impulse to wage a brawl could jeopardize an entire world. The thought of this was enough to cause him to ease his stance.

"Oh? Is this a refusal to cooperate from those who would just be better off tucked away safely?" Shantotto froze, her body still facing Cruce.

"We're not weaklings!" Riolu retorted, stepping forth with a fist raised. "And we're _not_ animals! We're Pokémon!"

"Hmph!" Shantotto huffed, suddenly shifting around and facing the other three, arms crossed. "You try my patience with your overconfidence. Very well!" She clapped a couple times, keeping her small hands clasped together before speaking again. "How about I give you a little test, just to be sure chaos is what you can digest?"

"Excuse me, but we do not have the time for games." Grovyle shunned her offer, looking away from the doctor.

"Ohohoho, what a pity! I'll be taking Cruce with me." Again, she faced the Shaymin. Before any further action occurred, Riolu spoke out.

"Wait! What is this test? What happens if we complete it?"

"Good inquiry." The doctor started, her eyes closed. "Should you somehow pass this test, I will be willing to teach you the best. Not to mention allow you to follow us and do 'whatever it is you need or want to do'. But, you _do_ need the 'best' to venture alongside the rest..." Shantotto paused, turning her head back to the three with a smirk. "...Of all of us. And perhaps, just perhaps, you will come clean from these mishaps."

"Come clean? Well, 'Professor Shantotto', you still have yet to explain what the test is." Grovyle noted, Shantotto now absorbing more of his interest.

"Simple and clean." Shantotto started. Once more, she faced the trio. "Or so I deem. Face me, yes in the center of the summit we're upon. Do you have what it takes to be strong, Pokémon?"

"Face you?" Riolu asked, hesitant.

"But that's kind of unfair. It's three on one. Unless you're counting Cruce." Sora spoke, the Keyblade absent from his maw.

"Cruce, if you would stay put..." Shantotto demanded, Cruce's response living up to these demands. He was irritated by the arrogance of the small humanlike creature, though he was very interested in the coming battle between these forces. "You're off to a bad beginning. Numbers do not decide the chance of winning. Not always. Enough chitter chatter. Time to play."

…

Grovyle, Sora, and Riolu faced their rather small opponent, unaware of what to expect. Grovyle possesses healthy intuition, however.

"Be careful, you two. She wears the coat. There is a reason."

…

"How about this!" Shantotto called out, fanning both of her arms out so that they are parallel to the ground. A pulse of shimmering air escaped her body. A grounded halo of fire glowed beneath the three before jetting upwards. Luckily, each of them managed to leap out of the way, albeit lunging in three different directions: Grovyle forward, Riolu to the right, and Sora to the left, his Keyblade in his mouth. Grovyle, being a grass-type, obtained the most severe damage from this, which was not all that significant.

"WHOA!" Riolu shouted, staring at the scorch mark from this phenomenon. "WHAT IS SHE?"

"I have seen this! It is another kind of magic! Be prepared for anything! Spread the attack!" Grovyle instructed, knowing that if they were to be too closed in to each other, another spell like that could easily bring them down. At least, it would harm Grovyle dramatically more than the other two.

Before the three could even make another maneuver, Shantotto was already well into casting her next spell. Another wave of shimmering air left her body. This time, the skies produced a glowing blue kind of energy, which then transmogrified into a torrential cascade of water. It was focused above Grovyle. Sensing this, Grovyle sprang forward, the waterfall crashing down behind him. Its splash forced Riolu and Sora to the ground. Upon attempting to strike, Shantotto anticipated Grovyle's quick attack with a rapid third spell. It was unlike the other two. Following the burst of air, three golden rings of an unknown energy phased into Grovyle. He fell to the ground, momentarily stunned.

"Grovyle!" Riolu grunted, hopping to his feet and breaking into a sprint at the spellcaster. With the intention of slamming down on Shantotto with a single fist to the ground, he leaped through the rain. His expression changed as he saw the casting effect of this professor's. Unknowing of the properties of her spells, he was slammed into the ground by a small meteorite of stone, though not too harmed. Sora took saw this as an opening and jolted through the plume of shattering rock and rainfall. Before striking, the debris cleared, his eyes met with a certain doctor's. His muscles were paralyzed. He was frozen. All sensations of touch were lost as the doctor held him telekinetically off the ground. One of her arms were raised, a palm opened in Sora's face.

"Ohoho! How about a swim?" A second after the unanswerable question, a heavy burst of water erupted from her gloved palm, undoing Sora's advance. Mud slid down upon Sora, engulfing him in a moist blackness...

He felt a burning sensation deep within his heart. It came from the Keyblade. It was not necessarily a fiery burning. It was more of the presence of a magical light. Just then, he experienced a blinding pulse of azure blue, his insides feeling cool, as if emerged in seawater. It was a moment of solace as his appearance shifted ever so quickly...

_She's powerful..._ Cruce thought to himself, now sitting on all fours and watching this seemingly uneven brawl. _Maybe I do have business with her. I can't assume anything, because I can't remember anything... Hmph... I remember the Crossblade being pretty powerful, and now I see it's got a bit of a counterpart. Too bad that counterpart's a weakling._

Sensation having returned to him, Grovyle bolted back to his feet, retreating from the direct vicinity of the mage by cartwheeling backwards, only needing one arm to do so. Just as well, Riolu emerged from the pile of rock, bursting upwards and landing safely beside Grovyle. They eyed the doctor carefully...

"How many moves does she know...?" Riolu mused, his fascination for these abilities evident in his lack of a decisive assault. The same could be said for Grovyle.

"I am unsure. We may be fighting a losing battle."

"G-Grovyle! Are you serious?" Riolu's fists tightened as he examined his partner's expression.

"Indeed. But that does not mean she is untouchable. Notice her choice of an arena. She is able to use a magic we have seen very little of, at least I have thus far. It can be used at a variety of ranges. She can very easily blow us right off of the mountain."

"Oh..." Riolu swallowed spit, trying not to think of the fall of unfortunate events. He turned to face the spellcaster, who was awaiting another attempt at the offense. "What do we do?"

"We have to think. She is a professor, therefore she is expecting both the expected and unexpected... Charge up an aura sphere. I have a plan."

"I hear you; do you think I'm deaf?" Shantotto called out, shaking her head, spotting Cruce in her peripheral vision. "Cruce, you do look as though you're a ref."

"You could say that. You're winning." Cruce smirked, stating the obvious. "Far be it from me to take a doctor from her work."

As another chuckle from Shantotto is heard through the rain, Riolu shifts his stance, ready to release a sphere of his azure aura. Upon doing so, he noticed Grovyle move in front of him, his position showing a charge was imminent. He turned his head slightly, gesturing a brief statement to Riolu.

"This is risky. I am, after all, weak to fire and ice..." Grovyle faced forward again, hearing a nervous gulp from behind him.

Shantotto raised her eyebrows, a very sinister smile crossing her face.

In an instant, Grovyle shot forward, Shantotto responding with well timed magical reflexes. Grovyle witnessed the physical motion of her casting and unleashed his planned move: dig. As if with supernatural strength, he dove into the mud of the summit, burrowing down out of sight. Before this, however, he managed to holler out to Riolu.

"NOW!" Grovyle shouted, underground within less than a second.

Riolu followed the instruction and hurdled is shimmering aura sphere straight for Shantotto. Though, she had completed formulating her quick spell. Upon casting, a giant structure of ice crystals rocketed from the ground Grovyle dug into. With it skyrocketed Grovyle, though Riolu's aura sphere shattered this spell only milliseconds following its cast. Fragments of mind-manifested ice littered the summit in addition to raindrops. The fight-type's move pummeled through the ice, though struck Grovyle as he was shot from it as well. His grass-type partner absorbed the full force of the aura sphere, which was enough to launch him at the unsuspecting Shantotto. In a fair amount of agony, Grovyle retained his bearings and pivoted his entire body and following through with a devastating leaf blade directed at the doctor. It struck. Grovyle slid on his chest a good two feet before coming to a stop, Shantotto nearly knocked off the edge. Cruce stepped forth, in awe at Grovyle's sacrifice.

"G-Grovyle! Are you okay?" Riolu shouted, both paws still forward from his earlier move.

"I...I'll be... fine..." The noble Pokémon struggled to stand. He failed to even get upon his hands and knees, his body heavily battered by the vicious spells. He noticed that Riolu was not intent on joining him at this time. There was a reason. There she stood above him, arms crossed as if nothing had happened. She frowned upon Grovyle.

"Well I have to say, this is not child's play. You sustained damage to damage your foe?" The small professor asked, shaking her head as though it was the wrong choice.

"So long as I can get us out of a stalemate, I trust my friends will come through for me. For everyone."

"Oh?" Shantotto raised a hand in the same fashion she had done directed at Sora. The air simmered around her palm. Grovyle felt the heat from his position on the wet ground. "How much do you trust these friends?"

"With my everything." Grovyle affirmed.

…

"Well then... Three". Shantotto began counting down. Quite suddenly.

Riolu made the attempt to dash for Grovyle. His pace was defeated by a blue blur. Who was this? Where was Sora? Panicked, he glanced back over both shoulders before facing forward again, sprinting ahead.

"Two."

The intensity from the short battle produced a terrain hazard, in addition to the slick mud. Riolu fell forward, tumbling ahead a couple times before trying to recover and regain his balance.

"One."

Shantotto released the magic energy, which happened to be a swift ball of fire. Just as swift as the spell itself, a blue image burst through the professor's spell, dousing it within a split second, and tackling her to the edge of the mountain. (Keyblade...) In this freakish surge of power, both she and Cruce were hurdled over the edge of the summit. Cruce recovered in midair, now in legitimate flight without the use of wings. He appeared to be levitating. Acting quickly, he grasped the hood of Shantotto's coat within his mouth and set her back on the smooth soil. (...Crossblade) She toppled forward, overwhelmed at the amount of mana energy she had consumed in this short battle, fairly in addition to the force of the attacks directed at her. For the doctor, all appeared white to her. It was a complete whiteout. Two opposing celestial energies had made contact with her, and it was a sensation not even Shantotto could have predicted. She was humbled by this excruciating force. It felt as though it were tearing her apart...

"A little... too much play? Perhaps...?" She pushed herself back up with her arms, though they trembled as if about to give way. Her cloak, despite its endurance, was torn and burnt. It was a contradictory sight to the number of times she had actually been dealt damage in the battle. "Extraordinary, fascinating power... How I hope this isn't my final hour..." ...It was unlike the doctor to say such things. For some reason, Cruce knew this. The Shaymin watched the three with vigorous intentions.

"What did you do to her...?" He asked softly, noting that Sora's physical appearance had possibly changed. He was taller, as well as blue with a white, collar-like fin around his neck. He appeared to be an experimental aquatic dragon-fox combination gone right. "You changeling freak!"

"A Vaporeon...?" Grovyle noticed, aghast. It distracted him from the pain of previous attacks. "But how?"

"Sora, is that you?" Riolu voiced a very good, yet obvious, question. He received a single nod as an answer.

"I don't know how I did it, but I did. It happened right after she casted that water spell on me. I felt it... enter my body..." The newly shifted Vaporeon glanced back at his long, finned tail before facing the furious Shaymin, who now had a type advantage over Sora. Even worse: Sora was unable to conjure the Kingdom Key at the moment.

"I was so freaking close to figuring something out. Then you have to come along and ruin it!" Cruce was shouting again, his cloudy ears back, yet high.

"Calm down. She'll be fine." Grovyle began, raising an arm. "Cruce, I am not sure what became of you since we parted. I don't know any of the new faces you have run into. You may not even remember me, but I remember you. I can tell you who you are. Just please calm yourself."

"Get real!" The angered Pokémon shook his head once, lowering his body into a more aggressive stance. "You think I'm about to trust someone who's with the cause of this whole thing?" This outburst alarmed Riolu and Grovyle. It was the second time they had heard that Sora had instigated the end of a world.

"You liar!" Sora snapped, stepping forth. "I haven't done a single thing to contribute to whatever it is those Heartless or Nobodies want with this world! I have friends here... And I want to save them! I'll come through for them and this world! If anything, you're the problem! You turned on Grovyle! Give him a chance! He knew your name! That's something, ri-"

"SHUT UP!" Cruce interrupted, snarling at the Vaporeon. Silenced followed this verbal retaliation... Seconds later, Cruce spoke up. "...Grovyle... And you. With the mask. You too." Cruce started, his gaze moving to the we soil beneath his green paws. "Get away from him. You don't know what I know. What I feel. This... kid... He's not who you think he is. His... Keyblade. The hearts he collects... They... trap the souls. Our souls. Seal them away. Until they're ready to burst. He locked the world's... th-the world's soul in its heart—encased it—and let the darkness grow within that void. It ruptured... It ruptured everything." The Shaymin was speaking in a jittery, almost insane tone of voice. He gave the impression that of all of this spoken information had just been discovered.

"You're wrong!" Sora argued, his anger sinking away. His tone became sincere. "I'm not trapping souls. I don't do that. That's not what the Keyblade... That's not..." He trembled, his eyes shutting tightly. "Not... what I do...? I don't remember... D-did I really do that? Was I... that?" By now, his two fellows' suspicions grew at an incredible rate. Sympathy was felt, however. Sora was unable to remember any dastardly deeds he may have committed. However, it was true that his memory was returning to him. That struck Grovyle.

"I did not want to doubt you, but you seem to be doubting yourself." He focused on the Shaymin, still standing over Shantotto. "Cruce. Hear me. I know the spiritual properties of the Crossblade are pure and true. I cannot say I know all of the events having taken place prior to this meeting, but I can bring you back to the roots of this. It must lead up to our meeting again..." The passionate Pokémon reached out to Cruce, palm upwards. "Come with us. You were, and still are, a good friend of mine. And you can be a good friend of _ours_. Celebi misses you too. We have a lot to catch up on..."

_Grovyle...?_ Riolu spotted a very awkward similarity here. The similarity was tied to he and Grovyle's reunion in the Woodland Refuge. Had he truly known Cruce like he had known Team Crimsongleam? Riolu's gaze shifted to Sora. His face spelled doubt, and a lack of confidence. _I don't know what to think, Sora. Maybe you are evil, but you have forgotten that, right? Just like... Just like Darkrai has forgotten his evildoing. He can restart. So can you. But... your memory of that past... is it returning?_

…

_Is the Crossblade doing that to you...?_

…

"I can't. Not yet. There's something I have to take care of." Cruce explained, his focus off to the side. He yawned... then shut his mouth tightly on a grayish vapor presence. It solidified into a cross shape. Two of the black, jeweled symbolic blades were serrated. The one that was not was the blade parallel to the staff portion of the weapon. It resembled a black spearhead. The handle, which was the previously mentioned stafflike section, was strapped with white and black leather, which was thinner around the grasping point. At the opposite end of the blade was a rhombus shaped, radiant white jewel. Indeed, Cruce wielded the Crossblade in a fashion much like Sora. He avoided Shantotto, approaching the silent Vaporeon whilst floating.

"Mm?" Shantotto groaned, her eyes fixed on a blurred image of Cruce hovering near a blue canine creature. It was not the masked one. "Cross...blade...? Cruce, no..." The rainfall drowned out her soft objection. "Axel said... ...Against the Keyblade bearer... will..." Her voice was cut off by the thunder's growl.

"Wha-what are you doing?" Riolu asked, eyes unblinking.

"...Cruce...?" Grovyle spoke.

Without responding, let alone being incapable of actually doing so, he stared down at the solemn Eevee... ...Sora had reverted in a minuscule amount of time. It had gone nearly unnoticed, and resembled an illusion of a sort. Cruce no longer needed to float to be equal in height to the other Pokémon. He stood on all fours...

...A voice...

_Sora..._

_Sora, I'm..._

The voice failed to come to the estranged hero in its fullest. It was easy to recognize. It was feminine... It reminded Sora heavily of the girl dressed in white within his dream. Perhaps it was. Naminé.

_Sora... I can't... ...fading... ...Cr... -ade... Whate-... -ou do, please do not come into contac-... ...-de!_

Sora's heart screamed. He began shivering uncontrollably. Despite the mayhem that was his body, his pulse froze.

Cruce lifted his head to strike.

…

An echo.

"CRUUUUUCE!"

…

The storm carried the thunderous echo...

…

Wigglytuff, awake and refreshed, had left the building to investigate Futachi's sudden decision to leave the refuge. When he discovered that his instincts were wrong, he approached the solitary water-type, who had still been leaning against the gathering hut with his arms crossed, his face emotionless.

"There you are! I thought you had gone! Why are you out here in this gloomy gloomy weather? Come inside and join everyone! It's warm!"

"Guildmaster..." Futachi began, responding more quickly than usual. Or at least beginning a response. "Eevee go with Time One and Riolu to summit."

"Oh, I know." Wigglytuff clarified. "I got the note. Chatot wasn't too happy about that! I guess I am kinda sad too. They didn't even say 'see ya soon!'"

"...Mm..." Futachi grunted softly. He opened his eyes, facing his guildmaster now. "Futachi no sure if they have reason to say such thing."

"Oh, come on! Have faith in your friends!" At this comment, Futachi averted his attention from his guildmaster once again.

"...Hmph. Time One say things... Things about Organization. Guildmaster... Futachi hear many things of Organization XIII."

"I've heard a little about them too! They sound so strange. Vulpix told us she was almost kidnapped by them."

"Vulpix strange one. But Organization stranger. We must locate if we to know more."

"Hm..." Wigglytuff's tone of voice was much lower than usual. A disturbingly serious side of him was showing at the moment. Futachi never objected to this. "Futachi, on our way down the summit last night, you told me about a hooded human with strange creatures that told you to hunt a boy bearing a 'blade'." The guildmaster faced the apex of the famous mountain... Futachi imitated him.

"Futachi remember. Of Organization, Futachi think."

…

"...Grovyle's note..." Wigglytuff referenced. He took a deep breath. "Maybe that hooded person... meant the Crossblade..."

…

"Cross...blade...?"

…

An echo of despair.

The mountain erupted into a scintillant white light. The sound of an enormous explosion accompanied a blinding nova. The light intensified with an endless thunder. It breached the skies, torching the clouds and enveloping the world in a burst of hyper-radiant light...

It lasted for minutes. It also lasted for days. Months. Years. An eternity.

Time was in turmoil.

…

Desecration.

On a floating land scarred with marks of darkness, three Pokémon lay. Shaymin. Riolu. Eevee.

...The world was still alive.


	12. The Deviation

**_Chapter 11: The Deviation_**

**_LolNote: _**_So, again, it has taken me stupid long to upload this. But hey, it's here. And it's long. We're at a point in Crossblade where stuff needs to be explained, adn to do that, these chapters must be the opposite of fun-sized. I don't know if that means boring-sized... I hope it doesn't~. This part's a bit tricksy, but nothing's new. Sort of. I lied. Everything's pretty new. First of all we got **YAOI **in this chapter_ as well as **ORGANIZATION XIII**. I'll leave you to piece those two bolded phrases together. And that's the most misleading thing ever.__

**_RoflNote 2: GUYS, MY BIRTHDAY IS TOMORROW! :D I will officially be an adult. WHOO~!_**

**_Disclaimer:_**_ I don't claim possession over characters originating from the franchises of Square Enix, Disney, Game Freak, and The Pokémon Company, Chun Soft, or Nintendo._**_ They belong to their rightful owners. _**_Few characters are original._

* * *

><p>Thunder shook the skies relentlessly in the absence of rain. This was not the mainland. Three Pokémon had been transported to one of the larger chunks of suspended terrain floating amidst desecrated space...<p>

The suspended land was fairly foggy. It was alarmingly lusher than what might have been anticipating, that being an environment torn apart at the very fibers. Albeit scarred with the marks of Heartless darkness, among other freaks of nature, the area, or at least what could have been seen with the naked eye, was far less ravaged than the mainland...

Riolu came to. His body twitched slightly, signifying his awakening. A second following this, his eyes opened half way. He felt the soft, damp soil under his fur. Inverting his body so that he is facing this soil, he pushed himself up with both arms, palms flat against the ground. He was in decent enough shape to do so. It was Grovyle and Sora he was far more concerned with. Quickly scrambling to his feet, he took point of the current situation. He failed to spot Grovyle anywhere, although he did see the unconscious Eevee and Shaymin laying nearby. Eevee was the first to be approached. Upon kneeling to the other's level, Riolu noticed very little damage done to the boy, aside from the gash in his side from the a Heartless a while ago. To his surprise, not a single mark related to the Crossblade's strike was seen. Whatever had happened on the mountain's summit, Eevee, and,for that matter, Shaymin were lucky enough to be unscathed. Even Riolu himself was not damaged any by this nova. That led him to believe Grovyle was well. Perhaps he was here, though it was far too misty to make out a very reliable distance. Raising his head and scanning ahead of him, the blue Pokémon did manage to make a discovery. A silhouette of _something_ stood idly by not twenty feet from he and the other two. This shape could not possibly have been mistaken.

It was a reptile-like Pokémon. It had to be a grass-type. He was from the future... And it was not Grovyle.

Jovany faced Riolu, the deep scarlet glint in his eyes beaming clearly through the dense fog. Moments of hesitation and disbelief followed until Riolu finally reached forth and called out.

"Jo-Jovany!" He yelled. To his dismay, it appeared Jovany had not heard him. How? He was right there! Rather than approaching, the other Pokémon simply turned around and walked off into the murkiness of the fog. Riolu could not have helped but pursue his supposedly lost friend. "Jovany, wait! It's me! Riolu! I-I missed you! Where are you going...? I', here! Waaait!" Riolu broke into a swift jog, only to find that his partner had vanished, almost literally, into _thick_ air. Riolu came to a halt, desperately taking in all directions, hoping to locate his friend. Hopelessness struck his mind when not a soul was sensed. He clenched his paws into fists, preparing himself to use his enhanced aura capabilities... However, even with the lack of this, he identified a threat looming nearby. Multiple threats, in fact. Shadows danced and swerved ever closer to him in the fog. The anger in his eyes deepened. These were the ones who stole Jovany away. It was crucial he annihilated every last one of them if it meant having his partner by his side once more. He would have traveled to the ends of the world for his friend. The literal threshold for just that had been blurred, as he was beyond the end of a fragment of his own world...

These foes must have been Heartless. They resembled those type of creatures closely. They were taller than Riolu by about a foot, possessed jagged feet and hands, as well as beak-like heads. They appeared to never stop swaying in a deadly dance fashion. The colors of their bodies were very much like the typical Heartless Riolu has seen thus far: pitch black with a few evident signs of blue or red veins. The dancing Heartless were about five strong, swaying all around Riolu and preventing any plans for escape.

The first offense came from behind. Aware of the sudden change in footsteps, Riolu lurched forward at the nearest dancer, catching it off guard with ease. He delivered an aura-charged uppercut to the Heartless, at the same time avoiding a threat from behind. Each of the dancers were on edge now, their yellow orb eyes wide and bodies poised for attack. Choreographed with precision, each of the dancers, including the recently attacked, hunched over as if about to jump. Each of them froze. Riolu clenched his teeth. He had to think quickly. Quickly scanning for any means of escape, he spotted a crimson glint. Jovany was watching. Riolu did not need to be smart any longer. A ferocious drive overwhelmed him. The radiating aura from his fists enshrouded his entire body, imitating that of a force-field. A fivefold assault followed. Riolu's will was unbent. His arms flailed out, the aura around him erupting into the air. The wave of blue unleashed enough energy to clear the surrounding fog temporarily. In all technicality, the Heartless became a part of this fog. They had been decimated by the rage-invoked attack. With his fists still tight, Riolu glanced forth, quickly making a hasty beeline for the gleam. No matter how many strides he took, it seemed to avoid him. Jovany was fading again. Riolu simply could not reach his partner. Yet, his devotion did not waver. Through the haze, the Pokémon advanced, determined to reunite with his close partner.

Despite the many attempts by the Heartless to block him from doing so. They were disposed of by a furious force... What Riolu failed to notice—and if he did he most likely would have shrugged it off—was that his own aura was darkening... Perhaps an optical illusion in the fog.

…

Nearer to the edge of the world fragment, two Pokémon lay. One was an Eevee, the other a Shaymin.

The first to awaken of the two was the Shaymin. Unusual for most Shaymin, he had obliviously slept through the a period of time in his sky forme. In fact, this was not only unusual. It was impossible. After hours, Shaymin could not possibly maintain their sky forme. Of course, this Shaymin did not know any better. The very first thing his slightly blurred vision saw was another Pokémon about five inches from his face. He appeared to be in a similar state. Clumsily, the Shaymin lifted himself up, though not quite standing. Or sitting for that matter. He felt weak. His muscles ached. His skull throbbed. But that was all. There was nothing else. He was blank from within. He was barren...

"Gnnh..." He groaned, making sure that he still possessed a voice. Reassured at that matter, he examined the Pokémon near him. He did not know what this creature was. He did not even know what a Pokémon was. In essence, he was bewildered at his own appearance, fascinated moreover by his long, cloudy ears. Feeling this abnormal weight on his head, he lowered himself to his belly, playing at his ears with a paw, basically trying to curl them closer to his own head. "What are these...? Are these my ears? I don't remember having these as ears..." He mused, examining his green-tipped paws next. "I don't remember these either... H-hey..." He shifted his attention to the Eevee nearby, nudging with his free paw at the somnolent Pokémon. "Do you remember these? ...Who are you? Are you asleep?" The Shaymin blinked. Perhaps he was asleep. If so, than it would have been considerate to not disturb the other. Why did he want to be considerate around this little creature?

_Why __was__ I __sleeping__ so __close __to__ him?__Did__ we__ get__ knocked__ out? __Or... __maybe..._ The clueless boy let his mind race through endless possibilities. _I __don't __want__ to__ wake __this__ person__ up. __But __why__ do __I__ want __to__ let __it __sleep? __Do __I__ want __it __to__ be __rested __up? __That __means __I__ want __to __be__ nice__ to __it... __But...__ why? __Is __it__ my __friend? __We__ were __sleeping __together.__ Ohh...__ Is__ she __my __girlfriend? __...Is __she __a __girl? __Am __I__ a __boy? __I__ sounded __like __a__ boy .__I-I__ don't __know...__ I__ can't __remember __anything.__ I__ think __I__ should __talk __to __her,__ who ever__ she __is.__ Whoever __I __am._Again, the blank boy nudged at the Eevee, this time bringing his muzzle a bit closer to the other's ear. "Hey, uh... w-wake up? Please?" At that moment, Shaymin understood for a fact that he himself was a boy. He crossed that off of his mental "to remember" list.

Eevee felt a warm, soft breath against one of his long ears. His ears were not quite as long as Shaymin's, though they added a bit of weight to his already quite large head. He, too, ached all around. This was a sign of his coming consciousness. Unfortunately, he lacked consciousness of anything happening prior to this moment. All he knew was that someone was speaking to him, and that someone was very close. And their breath felt very comfortable. The memory-absent Pokémon scooted itself closer to this source, still blissfully unaware of anything. Shaymin found himself tilting his head in utter confusion at this display of affection. Maybe his second intuition was correct. Maybe this creature was his significant other. It was all he had at this time. He decided on an interesting gambit to waking this "significant other" up. In this state of mind, he gave the other a few gentle licks on the top of the head, breathing generously into the Eevee's fur as it had enjoyed.

The pain melted away. Eevee knew he was in the presence of someone who cared for him, based on the licks and warmth. He felt the "stranger's" feathery, furry paws brushing against his own. He revealed his eyes to the thick air, his focusing moving to the Shaymin so close to him. He spoke.

"Hello..." Eevee's voice finally sounded. It almost took Shaymin off guard.

"Hi there." Shaymin responded, his eyes now fixed on the other male's, a friendly smile across his face.

"I don't know who you are, but you're really nice. Do you know me?"

"We were asleep together. I think I know you. I don't remember anything though. Do you remember something? Anything at all?" Shaymin expressed a genuine look of concern and curiosity to his supposed mate.

"I don't remember anything either." Eevee, shook his head before burying it into the other's chest. "So you're like me?"

"I am." The white and green Pokémon nodded slightly, nuzzling at the other's head. "And you're like me... I don't see anyone else around. You're all I have, I think."

"Oh..." The Eevee's cheeks flushed red through his fur. "You're all I have too... At least we like each other. Right?"

"Yeah." Shaymin chuckled, smiling wide again. "I don't remember anything, but let's like each other. I like liking you." The Eevee in his embrace giggled rather femininely.

"I do too... I think you're funny." He lifted his head to meet his thought mate's eyes, ears brushing against the other's chest as he did so.

"I still don't know what you or I are... but I think you're cute." Shaymin flirted, followed by an innocent peck on the other's nose. Another sweet giggle was heard, and the kiss was returned to Shaymin's chin. For the next few moments in their ignorant bliss, the two cuddled close, blanketed under a veil of cool mist.

…

The Nobodies called it The Round Room.

It was a bare circle. There were thirteen white thrones in this colorless room. Each throne was raised at a different height. In this room with no entryway or exit, beings dressed in black sat. A select few of these beings wore the black coat. Another portion of these beings simply wore a black scarf with a peculiar white insignia on it. It appeared as a spearhead with a cut-off upside down heart.

At present, some of the chairs were empty, as other members of this special coalition were up in arms with what would be considered unusual business. Only one of the members dressed in the black cloak was hooded, and he happened to be sitting at the highest throne. There were two other human-shaped members aside from him, and a staggering six others of varied species. Although they were not often concerned with their direct species names. They were known as Pokémon. Plain and simple.

Each of these Pokémon wore the black scarf, with the exception of one. The five which did also shared something "rare" in common. They were considered "shiny" variations of their original species, which meant that their body colors were altered in distinct ways...

"Luxord." One of the manlike Nobodies spoke. He was quite tall, with silvery blue hair that fell quite a ways passed his shoulders. A notable feature between his eyes was an X-shaped scar. "It is time."

"Indeed!" The man called Luxord responded. He had the aura of a gambler. His bright blond hair was cut short, as was his goatee. There was a sophisticated air about him. "It is unmistakably the time for an otherwise enigmatic roll of the dice." With that remark, the cloaked man sank into a vortex of gloom which he had called forth. This left eight of the Nobodies.

"Now..." Came a voice which pierced nothingness. The source was the hooded entity. "You each understand your liabilities, correct?" The five Pokémon nodded in unison, each paying close attention to the man; their leader. "Good. Before you take your leave for your fitting stations, you will be instructed to perform necessary tasks in, and some outside the castle... Are there any questions?" Not to his surprise, the ominous leader took of these Pokémon eying each other carefully. One of them spoke up.

"If I may?" A scarfed Roserade started. All eyes shifted to him. "Have we received any word regarding that lizard and the pink time traveling bug?"

"Yeah, what about them?" A Pachirisu inquired. "Especially that Crossblade brat."

"Ah, yes..." The black phantasmal cloud of a Pokémon finally spoke. He seemed to be floating at all times. Around his neck was an red object shaped like a spike collar. Flowing from his head was a cloudy trail of white. "Grovyle, Celebi, and Cruce. You need not worry about them."

"The Crossblade Bearer will no longer pose a problem. Grovyle has been eliminated. Celebi has recently been captured. We will assume that much of her based on Luxord's stratagems." The cloaked man concurred with the shadow.

"Hmm..." Another Pokémon pondered. It was a Glaceon. "What of the 'other' Crossblade? That key, was it?"

"Hmhmhmhm..." The Superior chuckled... Seconds passed before his response.

…

"Yes. The Keyblade. If we look to Cruce's last movements... We can see that he is in the past. He and the wielder of the Keyblade have met. The Souls have been released by the Crossblade. Number XII. The Time Gears. Kingdom Hearts. All will be ours... And now there is little an obstacle in our path." He lifted his arms, as if praising a divine force. "There will be no Blade to hinder us. No longer will we be limited." Slowly, the Superior returned his arms to the rests at his sides, scanning each of the Pokémon Nobodies. "Go about your duties in the castle. Be thorough."

Without any further hesitation or questioning, each of the Nobodies vanished in a fashion much like Luxord's... This left three critical members of Organization XIII.

"Now, where has Number VIII run off to?" The Superior Nobody questioned, stroking his chin...

"...He is not to be trusted. I do not understand why we continue to foster his recklessness." The scarred Nobody replied.

"There is nothing he can do. It is interesting, to say the least, to see what dire situations he digs himself into... He will accost us at some point." The leader's averted his attention from the matter, changing the subject to something slightly less immediate. "Darkrai. Find Riku."

With the lack of a response, the phantom of a Pokémon known as Darkrai faded into the blank air...

…

Two Pokémon walked side by side at a fair pace through one of the many gray corridors of their castle between dimensions. Like their three allies, they were of the shiny variation. On the world of Pokémon, they were called a Kirlia and a Krokorok. As they approached their destination, a tormented Kirlia finally decided to ask his partner about something beyond bothersome.

"Does it bug you, Xorkorokk?" He asked, catching the larger Pokémon off guard. It's snout was now facing the Kirlia. Though he said nothing, his expression was the only question necessary. "We aim to bring great things to the Organization, so why have we no memory of past events?"

"Ixrilka." The deep-voiced Krokorokk began. "I believe you have answered your own question. We are loyal. We were born from deep darkness to serve Darkrai and the Superior."

"I have no complaints about my duties. I will gladly accept any mission to better the Organization. But my mind implores me to wonder... Was there something before this? Was I something before this? Something else? There is evidence that points to such a conclusion. Many of the others are human. They have memories, Xorkorokk. Memories. Something that we do not have." To this argument, Xorkorokk fell silent once again. It was a commonly occurring trait of his. Most of the words heard from his lips were heard by Ixrilka alone.

"...In such a case, we have more to pay attention to." He finally commented, just as the two had reached their destination. It was an enormous, suspended cage holding a great diversity of Pokémon. This was the "other side" of the prisoners from Treasure Town: those who had escaped the Heartless... however fell victim to the clutches of the Nobodies shortly after. A horrified look of anxiety filled each of their faces as the Nobody Pokémon came closer. One notable Pokémon inside the cage was Chillarmy. Sure enough, she was the objective.

"...So this is part of Xigbar's project, concerning an seashell-wielding otter? Odd. When will he be here?" Ixrilka wondered, half expecting an answer from the other. Chillarmy shuddered, her paws over her mouth. It appeared she knew who the otter was.

"Shortly, I believe. I've known him to be unique when it comes to missions, however."

"As if, 'Croc. 'Think I'd be late?" The man called Xigbar approached his fellow Nobodies, having followed them with the curiosity that they might mention his "project". "Alright, you two. Help me with bunny girl here."

"And you're positive this will even work?" Ixrilka commented, hands on his hips.

"Positive? You should see that Futachi guy. He's a time bomb on a wild goose chase. I know it'll work..."

It turned out Chillarmy's dreaded suspicious were true.

…

And it also turned out that the words spoken to Futachi were true. Chillarmy was, in fact, captured. At this unsettling time, there was no way he could have known for sure. Futachi took a step into the circular building that guild members and townsfolk alike have gathered within. These were the refugees of the incident which befell Treasure Town. His senses were greeted with an air of complete confusion. What happened? This simple question was on every Pokémon's mind. What was the reason for the blinding light on the Sky Peak? By that time, everyone was aware that Riolu, Grovyle, and Sora had ventured to the summit of the mountain to begin their journey, or at least investigate a possible way to get started on it. The concept of spacial flight in this case was far from myopic. Anything was possible.

Even a random supernova.

The only effect it had on the Central Refuge was distraught. Countless murmurs created a climactic anxiety. Even Futachi was worried. Wigglytuff made mention of the Crossblade to him. In his mind, Sora's Keyblade was the threat. He had never considered the Crossblade.

"Futachi?" The voice caused a Pokémon of solitude to face it's origin: Sunflora. "You were outside. Did you see anything that we maybe didn't?"

"I couldn't see anything after that flash." Chimecho, floating beside Sunflora, admitted. "I'm still seeing blotchy shapes all over."

"Mm." He responded curtly, huffing through his nose. "Futachi see flash on very top of mountain. Is all there was."

"Are you sure?" Sunflora had to get over her fear of asking this to Futachi. She thought it was an annoyance against his ears. Though he disproved that.

"Was a scream like Futachi never heard." This caused the two girls to gasp.

"A scream? Who did it sound like?" Chimecho inquired, floating forth about two inches.

"Mm. Futachi believe it come from the small one. Sora."

"Sora..." Chimecho spoke the boy's name, frowning. Sunflora's entire body perked up at the sight of Vulpix approaching the conversation.

"What happened to Sora?" She asked, overt in having overheard the subject.

"...Do not concern self with." Futachi dismissed the idea, walking off elsewhere and leaving the three girls.

"...He's not the social type, is he...?" Vulpix kept her voice, and, for that matter, tails down. She would have been better off with a little insight as to how Sora was doing. There might not have been a possible way for Futachi to know, but she had made the boy promise him something...

"I think he's just really upset because of Chillarmy. Seems like everyone lost a dear friend in that rampage..." Chimecho explained, Vulpix responding with a sigh through her nose. The three girls remained silent for a few seconds prior to overhearing a plan involving some of the guild members. With eyes locked on four Pokémon near the entrance, they listened.

"Absolutely not!" Chatot refused. Exactly what his refusal was aimed at was unknown. It soon became obvious. Before him stood Bidoof, Corphish, and Loudred. "How could any of you know what is happening up there? Maybe something terrible has happened to those three. We cannot afford to have it happen to you!"

"Hey, hey! They're our friends, Chatot! At least let us go outside and search around if we can't climb the mountain, hey!" Corphish argued.

"Yup yup! Maybe they're on their way back down." Bidoof added, nodding at his own statement.

"You GOTTA let us do SOMETHING." Loudred began, his voice booming over the murmurs. "We can't just SIT here."

"Pipe down, will you!" Chatot retorted, growing rather impatient. Despite that, he rolled his eyes. "I simply cannot let you wander out there into the hostility of the storm willy-nilly! ...Though, I'm plenty aware we're getting nowhere. I will-"

"CHATOT!" Guildmaster Wigglytuff hollered from behind his assistance, practically causing the bird to squawk and freeze in a laughable position, his wings spread all the way out. "I think we should go out and look for clues about that big boom! What say you three?"

"Yup! I agree whole-heartedly!"

"I feel the same, hey, hey!"

"YOU BET!"

"Great!" Wigglytuff cheered after each of the apprentices' agreements. Chatot spun around, squawking once more.

"G-Guildmaster! You think we should go outside?"

"Yep! Everything will be fine. I'll watch us! Lopunny said she will too." With this came a sigh from the assistant Pokémon.

"Oh, alright. Honestly, my poor heart cannot take it when you shout like that, Guildmaster." Guild members and guildmaster alike shared a laugh at this. It was absolutely true. On more than one occasion has Wigglytuff startled the words out of Chatot. And that was one of the more difficult things one could do around the guild.

"Sorry! Alright everyone!" Wigglytuff called out to the entire crowd that was inside the building. "We're going to check around outside! Feel free to join us if you don't mind the rain! Once we find everything to be in tip-top shape, we can start looking for friends! Now, let's go!"

Instinctively, members of the guild, and a few townsfolk for that matter, expressed a passionate cheer. Vulpix was surprised at this. Spirits remained high, even after such a startling coincidence. She detested water, but she felt in essential to join the Pokémon laboring away in the rain. Or whatever it was they were about to do. Wigglytuff was slightly ambiguous, not to mention hasty about the whole thing...

...Meanwhile, outside, many of the Shaymin villagers are focused solely on the affairs of the Central Refugees. When things began to shape up was when they would decide to rebuild, other offering to assist their work. Pokémon eagerly poured from the building, high-spirited with the hopes of locating more and more fellow explorers in the vastness of the chaotic world. As soon as the first steps were taken onto the soaking grass, shock and awe acted as the following experience.

Four figures in the center of the village stood close by. One of these figures—the smallest—possessed what appeared to be a black and white flickering, almost lightning-like leash around her neck. Everyone easily identified this, upon freezing in place, as Chillarmy. She was terrified, clearly trembling before the Pokémon she knew. Perhaps if the terms were not so awful, it would have been elating to see them. The figure standing behind her was a man dressed in the black coat. His hood was down, revealing his scarred face, not to mention an obvious eye-patch. His hair was sleek with lighter gray streaks, tied down into a fairly long, thin ponytail. The two by his side were Pokémon. Each of them were classified as "shiny", with a black scarf bearing a certain symbol on it. One was a Kirlia, the other a Krokorok, though Krokorok was not very well known to many of these Pokémon.

"Well, well, whadd'ya know? Good old Demyx was right. There _is_ a Resistance growing here." The sleek-haired man started.

"Who are you...?" Wigglytuff, leading the group of Pokémon, questioned. "And why do you have our friend Chillarmy? That's not a good thing!"

"Clever egg. I tell you, you Pokémon really do come in all shapes and sizes and the like." The man known as Xigbar commented, arms crossed and attempting to look over the crowd for a particular otter.

"The scents here are diverse." Ixrilka, the Kirlia, made note of. "Identifying them will be no simple task."

"This world is considerably large." Started the Krokorok, dubbed Xorkorokk. "The others who have visited thus far are prone to experience trouble It is fortunate Demyx's run-in with the suspicious red fox whom Darkrai discovered led us here." He spoke rather silently, the other Pokémon unable to hear his mentioning of Darkrai.

"FODDER!" A voice roared from the crowd. Futachi, having spotted his dear friend, shoved his way to the front of the gathering. He stood beside Wigglytuff, pointing directly to Xigbar's face, both shells already held tightly. "You release Chillarmy now. Futachi care not what happen to Sora or Crossblade holder. You hurt her, you die."

"Seashells! Good to see you, buddy!" Xigbar mocked, hunching over a tad and waving over his head to the water-type.

"This is the one?" Asked Ixrilka. A subtle thumbs-up from Xigbar's free hand approved that.

"Futachi!" Chillarmy hollered. "B-be careful! Um, they're very strong! P-please just do what they ask!"

The mere voice of such a dear friend calmed the fierce Pokémon. All eyes were on him... The moment was tense.

"What do you want?" Futachi asked, though it would have been more accurate to say he was demanding an answer.

"Not much. But I hear you know about Sora and Cruce, otherwise known as the Bratty Blade Brigade. Say that five times fast." Xigbar scoffed, failing to hear anyone attempt this. He happened to turn his head toward the Shadow Summit. Or, at least, what was supposed to be Shadow Summit. The area was completely engulfed in a thick black fog. It almost seemed like smoke, a frequent flickering of starry lights within it. "Check that out." He pointed to the scene. "You see? I know where the kids are. Or were. Looks like they had a little skirmish. That. Is what. They do. They will keep fighting like this. They will destroy everything." Xigbar let this sink in. Suspicions regarding Sora and Cruce were always present. Now, however, things were beginning to seem far more malevolent about the two than first thought.

"You say was caused by Sora and Cruce? Two blades?" Futachi inquired, his interest in the subject only present due to Chillarmy being at risk. "Is impossible, no?"

"As if. It's completely possible. Those two blades aren't even supposed to exist near each other. It screws everything up. They're opposites. Comprende? They can't be here together. It's why they fight."

"And how exactly do you know all of this, Mr. Human Man?" Wigglytuff voice a question, increasingly skeptical.

"Tch, we've dealt with both of those suckers. We've learned a lot about them in the past, or future, few months. Or years. Your call." Xigbar responded, seemingly calm at virtually handing out all of this information.

"Who is 'we'?" The guildmaster leaned forward, eying each of the mysterious figures.

"Organization XII." Futachi answered.

"Yahtzee. Seashells gets a B plus. Would have had an A if you put a little more effort into my mission for ya, but whatever, you know? Now maybe you've all heard a lot of stuff from 'other parties' about us, but that's all bologna. Lemme tell you, Organization XIII is a dark and spooky and gloomy group 'o classy individuals who really don't have a choice in the matter. We like to keep it that way to stay low. Whole lotta good that did us. Pbbth. We're looking to control time itself because, if we can, we can hold time, so that it's not destroyed by those two savages Sora and Cruce. I don't know about space and the other thing, but we're working on it. Lots and lots of little details. As for this cutesy little one..." Xigbar paused, grinning down at the chinchilla Pokémon before him. Her leash was held by Xorkorokk, even though the material of the leash did not at all seem solid.

"...What do you want?" Futachi repeated his earlier question, still mulling over the Keyblade and the Crossblade. His suspicions were correct. Sora was not to be trusted.

"See, sometimes we gotta play it rough. We did wind up taking Chillarmy because we knew there was a little invasion. We saved a bunch of Poképeople, y'hear? We're all humbly requesting their assistance in these crazy times. Seashells, Chilly here wants you with her. The three of us promise we'll explain more once we RTC, but for now... Tag along, Futachi. We need more peeps like you on our top force. And all your friends here can look for their chums! We'll even help out where we can! ...So what do ya say?" There was little hesitation. Perhaps it was partially due to Xigbar's sincere request. Even Chillarmy was mistaken by this. She assumed that Organization XIII was pure evil. Were they? They had to be. The way Ixrilka and Xorkorokk had presented this as "Xigbar's project" sounded far too insidious to be productive! But Futachi had already obliged.

"Fine. Futachi will go. Wish to be with Chillarmy..."

"Futachi?" Wigglytuff spoke. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." He nodded, not even facing his guildmaster. "Made promise. Always be there for Chillarmy. Times are... confusing. Maybe Time One, Grovyle, working for wrong cause. He tricked by Crossblade Boy..." …This answer set the minds of many in reverse. Who they believed was the enemy might very well have been the allies all along. The evidence was Sky Peak. Futachi was also correct. The time were confusing, and everything Xigbar explained made remote enough sense. There were missing details, like the attempt at kidnapping Vulpix and the strange creatures called Nobodies. In fact, one of these details was about to be unveiled by Vulpix herself. She worked her way through the crowd, wincing at the feeling of raindrops drenching her fur.

"Wait!" She demanded, standing beside Futachi. "Before you go, I have one question."

"Oh, she has a question!" Xigbar played at the girl's call. "Let's hear it."

"...Um..." She searched for the words within her mind. Giving it a few seconds of thought, she was ready to articulate her troubles. "Who is Kairi?"

…Xigbar stood up completely. He glanced at Ixrilka, then Xorkorokk, each of them returning the look. With a menacing smirk, the man faced Vulpix...

"She's a girl we're looking for. Believed to have some connection with Sora... I hear she can put a stop to this whole thing! Crazy, huh?"

The crowd behind her sounded with various gasps. They knew Sora had called Vulpix Kairi plenty of times. It allegedly sounded like an accident each time.

"It is rumored," Ixrilka began. "That she was much like Sora: a human before all of this with memories that are now absent from her mind. For the time being. But it is within her nature to keep Sora from contact with the Crossblade."

"...I think..." Vulpix started, her head low and her voice breaking. "I think I'll be coming with you... Futachi."

And again came the reactions of shock and awe.

"V-Vulpix!" Bidoof cried out.

"But, Vulpix! How can you be so sure? Maybe Sora was-"

"I just have the feeling." She interrupted Sunflora, raising her head to Xigbar. "I need to come with you. I'm Kairi."

"Coincidink." Xigbar remarked, grinning wide. "Demyx was right! Right then, gather 'round, kids. We're off."

...

They coalesced.

…

In blackness, they disappeared, leaving with a blank face off with their friends.

…

The rain fell... Neither thunder nor lightning were present...

The path of these Pokémon was set awry. All they could do was stare into the black mist of the Sky Peak. Grovyle was not in charge. Dialga or Palkia were not in charge. Team Crimsongleam was not at the head either. It was Organization XIII whom they were to follow...


	13. Reality Check

**_Chapter 12: Reality Check  
><em>**

**___Note:_**_** Happy New Year! **I decided to do a quick part of Crossblade for a change! It's nothing special, and it's much shorter than the previous parts. In fact, it was supposed to be like twice as long as this. Or 1.5 times longer. Some real number greater than 1 and less than or equal to 2. I'm not working on Crossblade right now, but like I said, it's a nice little thing to get back into while I'm thinking about other ideas for my stories. I'm working on a new chapter for Endemic, Liquid Starlight, and actually, I got a Fiction Press account. Hopefully, I'll be enthusiastic about my OCs there more than here. ...'Cause that's how it's supposed to happen. Anyway, long note. Enjoy the madness~!_

**_Disclaimer:_**_ I don't claim possession over characters originating from the franchises of Square Enix, Disney, Game Freak, and The Pokémon Company, Chun Soft, or Nintendo._**_ They belong to their rightful owners. _**_Few characters are original._

* * *

><p>"Jovany? Jovany!" The distraught boy, Riolu, shouted for his friend, straying ever further away from him into the dense fog. There was no surefire way of navigating the area with precision. In the heat of battle ensuing from the various ambuscades, one became disoriented from the many movements. There were no clear landmarks to note. It was a blank landscape, and Riolu soon became ignorant of his allies. The only one he cared for at this point was Jovany. Filled with both dread and anger, he slowed his pace to an aggressive beeline, paws squeezing into fists at his sides. He shut his eyes, once again beginning to lose hope. It didn't matter how quickly he pursued the image of Jovany. He just was not able to catch up. And in the process of doing so, he had stranded himself in the middle of foggy, Heartless-infested nowhere...<p>

And then, he stumbled into something. It was not a tree, although intuition told him that it was leafy.

"Riolu..." Jovany spoke, standing over the other Pokémon and observing him, head lowered. "So that was you after me?"

"J-" Riolu was incapable of even talking further. He lifted his head slowly, examining his partner's new choice of clothing. It appeared to be a black vest only stretching down to the lines on his chest. On the center of this vest was a red-lined heart with a spiky X running through its center. A small stem of some sort split into three curves at the bottom of the heart. "Is it really you...? Jovany, you're alright, right? How did you get here?"

"Don't worry yourself about that." He replied. There was something quite occult about this situation. It was like Jovany knew something that Riolu didn't. The smaller Pokémon wouldn't have been surprised if that were true. "All of it. What matters now is that you and I are finally in the same place again. I have a lot to—" Jovany was cut off by an impulsive action on Riolu's part. He had buried his face in his partner's chest, clinging tightly with his arms wrapped around the other. "...Riolu..." The taller of the two leaned over slightly, the tip of his nose touching against Riolu's head. "You know it was me who sent those Heartless after you..."

"What...?" Riolu pulled away, his mouth agape. "But why! You didn't know it was me...? But then, how?"

"That's what I need to explain. You remember it clearly." Jovany started, at first perplexing Riolu with this. He started for the fog, awaiting a movement from Riolu. The two were soon walking side by side. "You remember the attack on Treasure Town clearly." He elaborated, turning to see his partner's reaction.

"I do." Riolu nodded, facing Jovany in return. "How did you manage to beat that shadow?"

"I didn't." He disproved, smiling a little bit and facing forward. "Nor did I escape. I let the Heartless take me."

"You what?"

"Calm down, it's not that bad..." Jovany reassured, seeming far too relaxed. "I know we've had our scares with 'darkness and evil' in the past. Remember that one time Darkrai almost got me to join him before we fought?"

"Yes..."

"I didn't join him. It was a nightmare. Besides, he was spineless. Darkrai is a joke compared to the power of true darkness, Riolu. He's nothing more than a simple thief!" He took a short breath, scoffing at his own words. "Upon encountering him at the Dark Crater, we were afraid that would have been the most challenging battle of our lives. It was a rush, I'll admit, but look around you now, Riolu... You see nothing anymore."

Riolu did not respond, though he did scan his surroundings. He was in sorrow, though interested to see where Jovany was leading with this.

"We won the battle against Darkrai, and Primal Dialga! Everything on our world turned out to be fine! We even saw what it would have been like if we failed our task... Look around you again, Riolu. Does it look like anyone has succeeded? Does it look like there are any heroes anymore?"

"There are heroes..." Riolu argued under his breath.

"Where?" Jovany stopped, Riolu walking ahead a few steps. He lifted his head and came to a halt when he realized he was the only one walking. "Where are the heroes?"

"...Everywhere!" Riolu turned back to his partner. "Us! You and me! We're heroes! We've saved this world twice, Jovany. Twice! With all of the friends we've made, we can do it again!"

"Reality check: The world's done for already! We can hardly call it a world anymore! It's pieces of a planet now! You think we can save a world of broken time and space? You think we can save that? Look, it's the classic case of 'if you can't beat them, join them'!" Jovany was yelling through this explanation, sincerely frightening his young partner to the point of averted attention. "Riolu... I still want to be with you and have adventures..." He approached the other Pokémon, placing a leafy hand on his head. "But the only way to live here is to live in darkness. The only way to avoid the Heartless as enemies is to _be _darkness. Trust me... I know it isn't easy to accept. It wasn't easy for me." Riolu shook his head, looking back up at his friend.

"But, we did so much for this world. Now you're saying we let it all crumble away?"

"What choice do we have? If we resist, we, you and I and our friends, will suffer awful fates. If we give our power to the darkness, it will give us life in return, not to mention more power in return."

"Jovany... Do you really believe that...?" Riolu questioned, the dread in his eyes growing. Jovany took little to no time to think about an answer.

"I do believe it." ...He gave his partner a genuine smile before turning and heading in the previously taken direction. About five seconds into this departure, Riolu responded.

"Well, I don't..." The blue Pokémon, still lost in the words of his partner, lifted his head. Jovany ceased all motion... ...The silent fog which separated the two nearly concealed Riolu's vision of his nearby partner. Seconds passed. Jovany returned his attention to Riolu.

"I was really hoping you wouldn't say that." With his body facing Riolu, he glared. "Don't make this harder than it already is..."

"If it anyone's making this harder, it's you. You have everyone worried, and now I find that you don't even care about their wishes anymore? You're trashing our hopes by joining a force you don't even know the true intentions of? What's gotten into you?" Riolu snarled, never before expecting this turn of events.

"Darkness." Jovany responded coolly. "I guess there's no reasoning with you now. You're too flustered. I'll give you time to think about it, not that there is any clear meaning of time anymore." Two puddles of black liquid presented themselves by Jovany with a flick of both hands. "I guess it's pretty hard to blame you for thinking like that... If you're not convinced by the next time we meet, I'll give you a good reason to be thinking like me. Riolu, you're not on my side, and I want you back. We make an unstoppable team... But it looks like I might have to knock some sense into you before we can be Team Crimsongleam again." Accompanied by Jovany's voice, two Heartless shadows climbed from the puddles, soon standing hunched and ready to pounce their prey. That happened to be Riolu. "Maybe this will convince you otherwise." As if the shadows had read the Pokémon's mind, they seized Riolu.

He stood his ground, though at the same time not prepared to do battle...

Jovany was gone.

…

"What business do you have with him?"

"Business that is my own. If you'd be so kind as to leave him alone."

"It's not going to happen. Cruce is an asset to my cause, and a good friend."

"Well he seemed apathetic towards you, lizard."

"It's obvious he suffered from memory loss. He underwent the same transformation another good friend of mine had. Listen, I need him. The world needs him. He holds the key to putting an end to all of this!"

"A key, you say? Cliché, but touché, as we might be after him for the same purpose. Even though we hail from worlds afar, they are connected by a darker star."

"Yes, that is exactly what Axel told Celebi and I!"

"You know the hothead?"

"I assume you do too?"

"A very interesting case, that one! A fool; constantly under the gun, on the run."

"Yes... Professor Shantotto, perhaps we would be more effective as a team."

"True, true, but where do we begin? Clearly, unclear is the fog we are within."

"The fog's bad, but the sooner we start, the sooner we finish... Professor... By any chance, you mentioned something about rewarding us the 'best' upon completing your test."

"Correct!"

"...What is that, exactly?"

"Ohohoho! How curious are you?"

"I'm not too sure anymore."

…

The two small boys kept pace with each other in the foggy forest, trekking at an otherwise leisurely speed. Given their memory had collapsed into nothing and they were oblivious to the crisis of the world, everything seemed free of any sort of problem. Their immediate concerns were of their memory and each other.

"This is kind of spooky." The Eevee admitted, staying as close as possible to his Shaymin acquaintance. He could not keep his eyes ahead. His focus was scattered.

"Don't worry, I'll keep you nice and safe." Shaymin smiled. "I'd be fibbing if I didn't agree with you though. This is creepy. I don't even know my own name, let alone where we are."

"Speaking of names, I wish I had something to call you..." Eevee lowered his head as he spoke, slightly embarrassed about the form of a question he had been wanting to ask his friend for a bit.

"Likewise, heh."

"Your ears look like wings... What if I call you Wing? That's cool, right?" Eevee gave the Shaymin an eager look. Shaymin couldn't resist complying.

"Sure! I like it! I wanna give you a cool name too, but all I can think of are cute names. Because you know. You're cute." A grin crossed his face at the sound of giggling beside him. "How about I call you... maybe Fox? That's short and sweet."

"Okay! I like it!"

"You do? It's not too simple?"

"No, I like the simplicity!" Fox dashed in front of Wing, hopping excitedly. "So Wing! Nice to meet you, I'm Fox! Hehe~!"

"That you are!" The Shaymin grinned again, watching in delight as his enthusiastic friend jumped about. He couldn't help but notice something about him; his presence. The aura he radiated was far from normal. Other than that, Wing was under the assumption that Fox could have possibly been his mate. It was a strange idea, although legitimate. The two had passed out together, ergo there was some sort of connection between the two. They shared something. Love was the most positive of the possibilities, therefore it was mutually chosen.

Cheery mood aside, the two worked their way blindly, in various senses of the word, through the fog. So blissfully unaware of the mood were they that one might have been insulted by their demeanor, if not, jealous that they could be so unfazed. Perhaps they were about to get a reality check...

Riolu stood in despair with the top of his head against a tree trunk. His arms hung freely by his sides. It was though he had passed out against a tree in an odd fashion... The Shaymin and the Eevee were in the midst. They approached but could not identify the blue, masked Pokémon.

"Fox, is that dude alright? You see him, yeah?"

"I see him. Maybe we can ask him where we are?"

"Yeah, good call." Wing agreed to his friend's suggestion. "Hey there!"

"Mm?" Now leaning on the tree with an arm, Riolu picked his head up and faced the others. "Oh... you two are up..." Upon saying this, both Pokémon eyed him before watching each other momentarily.

"'Sounds like you know us!" Fox guessed, head tilted. Riolu raised an eyebrow.

"I do know you." He replied in a matter-of-fact way, beyond worried about their newer manner around each other. And him. "Guys, I'm really not in the mood for games... What are you pulling?"

Riolu wasn't necessarily hoping for the following reaction.

"Wha...? What do you mean?" Fox looked nervous now.

"Yeah, we just got here... We were wondering if you maybe knew a thing or two about where we are." Wing paused for a moment, examining the unique physique of Riolu's body. "And what we are."

"...What?" Riolu blinked, standing up on his own. This was enough to distract him from his current misery. "...Cruce? Sora? Are you two alright?"

The two gasped.

"You do know us!" Fox exclaimed, unsure if he was Cruce or Sora.

"P-please! Tell us what you know, man! We're totally lost here..."

"Fine..." Riolu responded after a couple seconds, followed by a sigh of exasperation. "Just try not to lose your memories anymore, okay? Let's get going. I'll fill you in as best as I can on the way to a place I have in mind." The rest of that thought was not finished aloud. _At least, to a place I think is around here somewhere. This fog is familiar to me. We might be in Fogbound Forest._

…

"Riku!" A voice came from behind the recipient of the call. The black fox, paws tipped with red and fur fluffed up into a flame shape upon his forehead, turned to see the young lady who was calling him.

That young lady possessed a small, brown body with an enormous tail of pure cotton practically twice her size in dimensions. There was a small puff of cotton at her neck, and two curved green prongs protruding from the hair-esque cotton atop her head. She skipped to the boy known as Riku.

"Riku, why're you all over here on your own bein' all lonely on your own~?" She spoke in with a idiosyncratic redundancy as a sort of speech quirk. She was never able to shake this from her casual manner.

"Sorry, Whimsicott. I just can't get that feeling of foreboding out of my head." Riku splayed his ears a bit, smirking at the other as if expecting some sort of annoyed response.

"How many times will I have you tell you to stop being all stuck on that subject? You're such a qualmy Zorua, you know, with the pessimism and all that?" She shook her head, eyes closed briefly. "C'mon, follow me." Without question, Riku followed the girl through the cavernous surroundings which they called a refuge. Though damp, it was kept well lit with torches placed far apart. There were a handful of other Pokémon in the enclosed area, all of which knew each other from Treasure Town. Riku was the oddball here. He had never been seen before. To the others, his story was shrouded in mystery. He had been found on the way to the refuge, proven himself a capable fighter with his odd ability to summon a dark, demon-wing-shaped blade, and ultimately slaughter the shadows which prohibit the continuity of the survival of the Pokémon. "We've been assigned a little mission that we have to do!"

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

"We're gonna go out and save us some Pokémon!"

"Good! Who else is coming?" At that moment, Riku began to notice a slight lack in the number of Pokémon within the refuge.

"The people who are already out there being on that mission!" Whimsicott giggled. "We're gonna rendezvous with them, you know, like meet up with them and then do more stuff having met up with them!" She hopped ahead of Riku, walking backwards whilst speaking. "We're also gonna try an' see if we can find a famous bunch of famous heroes!"

"Famous heroes? Who are we looking for?" In his mind, Riku was thinking of two particular people he'd considered famous. They were in no way famous in this world... Perhaps...

"Why, Wigglytuff's Guild, of course!"


End file.
